


Chasing Suns

by violetmarbles



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Violence, Comfort Sex, Conflict, Depression, F/M, Friends to Enemies, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Love/Hate, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-10-24 21:52:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 52,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10750518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetmarbles/pseuds/violetmarbles
Summary: Cam's life was right on track, engaged to her high school sweetheart and running her family business, but everything changed once the days fell into eternal night. When a stranger from her past appears with the same sun-shaped mark as hers, she knows only trouble can come of it. And trouble is generous, in the world of ruin.Gladio soulmate AU | COMPLETE





	1. Prologue

“Shaping up to be another beautiful day, hun.”

Cam smiled, her cheeks warm from the sunrise spilling onto the cityscape of Lestallum, flooding the structures and buildings in vivid hues of orange and pink. She breathed deep, eyes closed, drawing the energy of a new day in and letting it soak into her bones. As she did everyday her hand smoothed over the bend of her right hip, her own little ray of sunshine hidden beneath. Although city air wasn’t as fresh as that from the Duscae countryside, it was good to get out into civilization once more. She exhaled, content. “Yeah, sure is.”

Too bad they were getting shorter...

Behind her, Nolan set the last crate of peas on the supply wagon and locked up the truck, flipping his shaggy blond hair back and out of his eyes. “Alright,” he hummed. “Good to go.” 

They carted the wagon up from the parkade and across the street, heading into the heart of the town with Cam’s family produce in tow. Every weekend her and Nolan, her highschool sweetheart and as of three weeks ago her fiance, would make their way to Lestallum’s market to sell the produce from the farm Cam grew up on. Half of the goods she’d dug up herself before sunset the night prior, fingernails still caked in dirt despite her attempts to scrape them clean before heading out. 

It was good gil, as there was always the demand for produce; they typically sold out by noon each day, taking the rest of their time by chatting with the other provisioners and checking out their wares. They also purchased seedlings and bulbs for tubulars there. Cam’s weekends played out this way even when she was a young girl, dotting along with her father before taking over for him when his back deteriorated.

Recently however, they were lucky to sell out by the time the sun went down. Shorter days meant less sunlight, and less sunlight made for lower quality harvests. Soon they wouldn’t be able to afford the weekly trips into the city, perhaps turn to canning and preserves for year-long profits if even that. 

Cam frowned. That quaint cottage on the water was still for sale, but her and Nolan barely had enough scrounged up for the down payment. She couldn’t abandon the family farm; for one, her mother would smack her upside the head, tell her to ‘keep to her roots.’ Her father would of course, tell her to do whatever makes her happy, though she would see the pain in his eyes, the Reynold’s family business closing down with her to blame. It was daunting, to say the least. 

But for now she hid her internal squabbles as they set up shop, bright offerings of fresh beetroots, sweet peppers, Eos green peas and Lucian tomatoes the pick of the crop today, so fresh patches of dirt clung to their flesh. Nolan unfolded chairs for the two of them and they relaxed, watching the other vendors prepare their displays.

By mid morning they already turned a fair profit, just about half of their goods sold and the gas money for the trip in covered, so Cam was at least grateful for that. Nolan left to help with procuring the next seeds for sowing before the summer months came, so Cam was manning the booth by herself. She’d just finished helping one of her regulars with a rather large order when a tall, sharp-dressed young man approached. 

She felt ought to greet him, but his focus seemed elsewhere as he squinted through his glasses, comparing the peas and peppers. Instead Cam decided to offer assistance. “May I help you with anything, sir?”

He looked up. Bright eyes, handsome, well groomed. A city slicker, perhaps. “No need, I’ll take a bundle of beetroot, miss.” 

Remarkable accent on him. “Sure thing. Forty gil, please.”

He flipped through his wallet, pulling the required funds as three others joined him, all dressed in black clothing that didn’t seem to fit in with the vibrancy of Lestallum. One of them had a camera and decided it be an opportune time to take Cam’s picture. She furrowed her brows, though smirked in jest as she counted change for the man. “Didn’t even ask me to say ‘cheese?’ Some photographer you are.” 

“Oh man, you’re right! How could I ever forget the basics?” His voice as bright as his blonde fringe. “Alright, look over here annnnnnd, ‘cheese!’”

Cam tucked a lock of brown hair behind her ear as she gave a kind smile, plain, unexciting. Even still, he gave her a thumbs up before his bespectacled friend thanked her for the goods. “Might have a new recipe in mind with these. Enjoy your day, miss.”

He turned to speak with a very tired looking young man, eyes puffy from either lack of sleep or too much of it. Cam pocketed the profits in her gil satchel, flipping through the bills before something blocked out the sun. 

Or rather someone. A man, tall and equipped with enough muscle to flip a tank stood beside her booth, checking out the seller’s wares next to hers. A cocoa mop of hair ruffled in the breeze and he exhaled, as if letting a great weight off his back. Then he stretched his arms over his head and Cam’s heart skipped a beat.

On his hip, barely visible but definitely there, a small sun about the size of a golfball discolored his skin, peeking out from the hem of his leather jacket. Any person catching a glimpse of it wouldn’t have given it second thought but it had the full range of Cam’s attention now, her stomach doing somersaults as her hand flew to her hip where underneath her clothes, she hid an identical sun of her own.

The mark of a soulmate. On a stranger, right in front of her. 

What was she to do, tap him on the shoulder and hike up her shirt? Would he even know what it was? There was also the tiny detail that she was happily engaged to the love of her life.

Speak of the devil, he startled her as he sauntered back behind the booth. “Stock of wild onion bulbs is in,” Nolan announced. “I got you a couple dozen, thought that would be good to start. The peppers have really overtaken most of the...Hey, Cam. You there?”   


She snapped out of her thoughts, turning to give her fiance an overly exaggerated smile. “Yes! Sorry, was distracted…”

As Nolan continued speaking, she watched the stranger regroup with his three friends in black and they left the market. A pang of regret, despite the circumstances pained her insides. She supposed it didn’t matter; not everyone ends up with their soulmates and she already found the only man she could see spending her life with. And so as her and Nolan sold their last bundles of produce, drove back to the Reynold family farm in time for chicken dinner and peach cobbler before reading themselves to sleep in eachother’s arms, Cam decided life as she knew it was absolute perfection the way it was. 

Though every now and then, try as she did to prevent it, her mind wandered back to that day with questions of what could have been. She thought of him and saw the sun, warm and intriguing as the new day washing over Lestallum.

She saw the sun, even when those days lasted mere hours. He kept entering her thoughts even at the most unopportune occurrences, especially when Nolan was around. 

But more than ever, she saw the sun when darkness finally swallowed Eos whole.     
  



	2. World of Ruin

Two years of darkness passed.

The final day with light lasted only an hour. Cam watched the sun disappear that day with Nolan by her side. He’d shrugged it off as something that would pass, something that wouldn’t last more than a short while.

Sometimes she reminded him of his words, whether to jest with him or in pointless argument. But not long after the sun left they began to feel the effects of what some eccentrics on television coined, ‘Starscourge.’

Weather was unpredictable, often dismal. Winds blew without a straight course and changed direction multiple times through the day. Sometimes the cold became uncomfortable, frost forming ruts in the driveway and forcing them to pull out their winter clothes on occasion. Rain was the worst. It came down in a black residue, staining the ground with a tar-like appearance.

Within the first few weeks, looters came. Fresh food was scarce and the farm was a target early on. When Nolan attempted to drive them away, one held a gun to his throat. After they’d cleaned them of the final root vegetables, they tried to grow more.

But without sunlight, the crops didn’t last long. They sowed the seeds, checked each day for progress but they wouldn’t even catch roots, their pods turning to rot. Not surprising, though Cam had high hopes. Said hopes only had shallow wells to draw from, and so it was the end of an era for her family name. At least her family couldn’t reprimand her for it; after all, the dead didn’t talk much.

Death was inevitable, everywhere in abundance and at any given moment. Daemons roamed the roads, fields, woods and highlands especially. They were intelligent, learning human habits and gathering at places they frequented, overwhelming unprepared locals and causing grief to hunters who underestimated the job.

Such was the employment Nolan took on when the daemons came. It was fast, reliable income, and there was always work to be done. Always hordes to slaughter. Always Injured people to rescue from underneath a bridge. Always small children clinging to his knee, begging for him to tell them where their mommy or daddy was, their remains a whitish-pink residue against the pavement and their clothing caught on a guardrail…

Their love strained, Cam trying to be the beacon of light they so desperately needed in this eleventh hour. They’d gone weeks without touching eachother, Nolan unable to sleep properly each night had resorted to balling up in the fetal position on the couch, repeating in his head how he wasn’t ready for this, body racked with sobs until his head throbbed.

They were all each other had though, and so it was enough. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t the love they intended to share, but it was enough. And in this world of ruin, it was everything to them.

Cam sat across from Nolan at the dining room table, thumbing the rim of her coffee mug, the Ebony stale but better than nothing. She took a sip, peeking at her fiance over the cup wall. She couldn’t recall when they last spoke, the only sound re-run newscasts on the TV set. She grasped for something, anything, to talk about. “Hm, so,” she mustered, throat stuck together. “When are you heading out next?”

Nolan sighed, leaning back in his seat, eyes never leaving the broadcast. “Dunno, Greyson has to text me the details. Haven’t heard from him in a few days, though.” He stood, finally offering Cam an empty look. A man almost broken. Almost. “I’ll give him a call soon. Going for a shower.”

He left to go upstairs, the floorboards creaking with each step. Cam cradled her knees to her chest and let her attention be consumed by the year-old broadcast, bright ticker-tape along the bottom reading _‘Lestallum Packed: Refugees Refused Admission.’_

She flicked through her phone, tapped on icons and closed random applications, something to keep her out of the dark recesses of her mind. She opened the gallery, scrolled to the bottom, and worked her way up to more recent pictures. Photos faded from bright color swatches and selfies and smiles and life, to dimly-lit offerings of daemon sightings and pictures of missing people with no identification. The depressing gradient tightened her chest. She pocketed her phone, resting her chin on her knees as she heard the water turn off in the bathroom above.

_SLAM!_

Cam jolted off her chair as a thunderous crash came from outside, the ground jarring. She flew to the opposite wall of the kitchen and peered out the window, squinting her eyes to adjust to the darkness past the spotlights. When she could make out the source of the disturbance, her pulse doubled.

An iron giant, glowing red from within and yielding a sword the size of a freight truck was heading their way, the house in it’s current path, eyes flared and a craving the taste of destruction. It swung its weapon sideways, cleaving into an old grain silo without restraint, the tower crashing into the earth with a shock wave.

Cam shrieked and called for Nolan, who bounded down the stairs in just a towel, chest still damp. “Hun, we gotta get outta here!” she cried, scrambling to throw her boots on over the cuffs of her jeans as Nolan sprinted upstairs to dress himself. The ground shook with greater tremors, the light outside growing dimmer and dimmer as the daemon knocked spotlights over like matchsticks, their bulbs popping on impact. Her mug of coffee jumped on the table and spilled everywhere. The TV screen shattered, smoking from the inside. The refrigerator door swung open.

“NOLAN!” Cam screamed, the iron giant outside so close she couldn’t see the top of it’s head anymore. A pause, the earth quaking had stopped. She could hear Nolan upstairs, his movements-

The roof split mere feet from her right and Cam launched forward, barely missing impalement from a supporting beam and sprinted for the front door. Before she reached it, the monster brought his blade down on the house again, splintering wood flying dangerously in all directions as countless items, trinkets, family treasures shattered in a second. The door frame took the brunt of the damage and it caved in completely.

They were trapped.

“NOLLLLANNN,” Cam screamed, tears warping her vision as she searched for her fiance, dust and dirt fogging what remained of the kitchen. The only sound came from outside, the rumbling of the giant’s battle roars popping her ears.

Nothing. But then, “Cam! Cam babe, are you okay?”

He was behind a wall, blocked in from the daemon’s horrendously well-placed blows. Cam scouted an access point, but walls of wood and shingles and brick barred entry. “Nolan, I-I can’t find a way in!”

She attempted with insufficient strength to lift a rafter off the rubble, her arms shaking from the strain, giving up with a furious exhale. “FUCK!” she cried, sobs wracking her chest and her vision going red.

The ground shook again and the giant stomped around to the other side of the house. Oh no. One more blow and she’d be crushed. _They’d_ be crushed.

In her desperation to find something, anything…a window, broken from the impacts but open without interruption. The daemon was on the opposite side of the house, and she had a clear path to the truck. “I-I see a way out!” Cam yelled, thankful she’d forgotten to hang the keys on the hook earlier.

“Cam, go honey. Get out of here! Please!”

Her anguish at the decision before her was palpable. “I can’t leave you, oh my god oh my god, Nolan-”

“GODDAMMIT, CAM!” Nolan bellowed from the blocked-off room beside her. “GO! Please get out of here! FOR ME! DO IT FOR ME, CAM, GO!”

She hyperventilated as the giant roared from outside, the sound of another grain silo being felled stinging her ears. Leaving him meant only one thing and they both knew it. “Camellia, _please._ Please go, please _live_ ,” Nolan pleaded, his voice choking up.

Cam nearly buckled over from the weight of the decision on her shoulders. Though she’d rather await the eventual death that would come from the daemon outside, Nolan needed her to try. He needed her to live, for the both of them.

“Nolan…I l-love you so much…” her voice trembled, sniffling constantly to keep her airway free.

“I love you, Cam. Now go!”

His words sent adrenaline through her system and she whipped self-doubt to the wind as she leapt out the broken window, glass snagging against her sweater. She yanked it free in time, sprinting with long-since used muscles to make it before the daemon spotted her. She dare not look up, nor around her at the destruction of her family farm. All she let into her blurry field of vision was the door to the truck, the key in the ignition, then her foot to the floor. But as the tires skid in the mud and the vehicle launched forward, gaining better traction once she hit asphalt, Cam caught a glimpse of the ruins in her peripherals…right as the iron giant brought his sword down on the remnants of her house.

She fought the urge to vomit up her internal organs as she struggled to keep on the road, lit only by one working headlight. She drove to the only place she thought of despite knowing she wouldn’t get in. The only place where long ago in a different life, she had shared better days with Nolan.

Lestallum.


	3. Reset

Luck was empathetic that evening.

Cam reached the blockade just outside of Lestallum, easing off the gas to brake for the approaching guard, a semi-automatic rifle cradled in his arms. She expected to be denied entry, that they were booked to capacity, but he asked her why she was here and it’d taken the last reserves of her composure to grit through clenched teeth that her fiance was just killed. That she had nowhere else to go. That she had no one else.

And so after several seconds of uncomfortable silence his shrewd eyes narrowed at her, a toothpick rolling between his teeth as he turned to another guard holding a checklist, made a quick scrawl and nodded for them to open the gate.

Cam parked the truck in the lot above the overlook, pressed her head to the steering wheel and broke into a million pieces. She cried harder than she had over the past couple of years, loud screams and sobs of anger and heartbreak clamping her ribcage against her lungs. Nolan was dead. She was homeless. Three hundred gil to her name crumpled up in her pocket, an old truck running on fumes, her cellphone and the clothes on her back.

She wept for an immeasurable amount of time, exhausting herself to the point her whimpers came out in cracks, her throat raw and sore. People outside had stared as they passed by, but fuck them. When the windows fogged, it was welcome seclusion.

At some point she fell asleep, leaning against the window and letting the tears flow freely against the glass as she drifted off. The nightmares showed no sympathy, barraging her mind with images of her family home buckling under the blow of the daemon’s weapon, the lights going out one after the other, and Nolan, trapped behind the rubble…

A tapping on the glass pulled her from the torment. She’d slept all night, or at least a full night’s sleep worth; it was hard to tell the days apart, for obvious reasons. Cam blinked and wiped the condensation from the window.

A familiar face peered in and she cranked the window down. “Greyson,” she croaked, voice sandpaper against her throat. “What are you doing here?”

The husky man noticed her golden eyes were rimmed-red, puffy and raw. “Could ask you the same thing.” Worry accented his words. “When did you get here? Where’s Nolan?”

Nolan…The wounds barely clotted and hearing his name ripped them open again. Without hesitation Cam’s eyes gathered tears. She couldn’t speak, so she shook her head, the corners of her lips quivering.

“Cam, what…” But then realization, as his face softened. “No, no fucking way…”

Greyson paced away with his head down, pinching the bridge of his nose. He circled back to the driver’s side window. “I’m so so sorry, Cam. When did-”

“Last night,” She replied through her teeth, anything to keep from breaking down again. “House’s gone. Iron giant.”

“Goddammit.” Greyson scratched his patchy beard and seemed to consider something. “What’re you gonna do?”

Cam stared out the windshield. “Stay here, I guess. They always need people at the power plant-”

“Come with me to HQ,” He suggested, cutting her off by accident. “We always need people, too.”

“To replace the ones that were killed, sure.”

Greyson seemed offended. “Not necessarily. We can use the help with vendors, or provisions or-”

“I’m staying here, Greyson.” It was Cam’s turn to cut him off. “I don’t have any desire to become a hunter. I know what life comes with that…profession,” she avoided Nolan’s face in her thoughts, “and it’s not for me. Thank you, but no.”

“Alright, alright,” He held his hands up, “whatever you say. Offer will stand should you take it. I just want to see you in good hands.”

They chatted for a little while longer before Greyson took off, a haul of supplies in the back of his pickup.

Cam spent the rest of her gil on a hotel room at the Leville and acquired a job at the power plant without needing an interview, as they were so desperate for people. Two days into it however, and she literally couldn’t take the heat. Even with the protective suits her skin boiled, the relief of a cold shower her reward at the end of the day. It paid by the day which was helpful, but it wouldn’t be enough for her to find a place to stay, afford rations and pay her phone bill. She’d have to do with out the latter eventually; not like she had anyone to keep in touch with.

After two weeks Cam’s income couldn’t keep up with the cost of renting a hotel room. She sold the truck, the profit just enough for one more night’s stay, and after an awkward conversation with a coworker she moved into their basement for the time being.

Jobs apart from the power plant were hard to come by, as any openings were filled the same day they were posted due to the massive population of the city. Crowds were not Cam’s thing and they were everywhere; restaurants packed to capacity and people forced to sit on the curb and eat their meals, lines at shops going around the block and barely any personal space when walking to and from work. It was overwhelming. Unnerving.

_Suffocating._

There was a darkness of her own akin to that which plagued the land, seeping into her mind and spreading to further reaches as the days, then weeks, passed by. Color drained from her world, faces became flesh blobs in her field of vision, monotone voices with a distant pan no matter their proximity. It was a struggle each evening to keep Nolan from her thoughts, or at least think of better memories with him other than his final moments.

Cam leaned against the wall of the shower as she’d done every night after work, letting the ice water drench her and extinguish the fire her skin had endured in the heat suit. She wanted more than anything to stroll through the market square hand in hand with him, his blonde shag whipping around his face in the breeze and the innocence of youth in his silver eyes. But they’d converted the space into makeshift housing to try and deal with the influx of refugees so that was out of the question.

For some reason she reminisced back to a particular day at market, where she’d met four young men dressed in black clothing, including the one with the sun on his hip. Cam didn’t mention it to Nolan for obvious reasons; after all, how would one react to their significant other pointing out a stranger and announcing they were their soulmate?

That didn’t prevent her from thinking about him, though. Despite the years passing, the features of his face kept in crisp detail and whenever she thought of him pins and needles flared from the marking on her hip. Nolan’s face was already blurry…

No. It wasn’t fair to his memory to be thinking about a stranger like this, soulmate or not. She had to focus on restarting her life, getting her shit together. And after deliberating back and forth with herself, she concluded Lestallum was not the place for her.

She had to do as Nolan did. She needed to make a difference, and poaching herself in a heat suit on the daily was not the way to do it.

After tying her chestnut locks in a damp ponytail, she opened the contact page of her phone and dialed the only listing. After two rings, Greyson picked up. “Hey Cam, how’s Lestallum treating you?”

She sighed. “Not well. I was hoping that offer of yours was still on the table.”

“You mean you want to come work at HQ?”

A pause as she mulled over her decision a final time. The hunter lifestyle went against her grain; it required strength, cunning, fast reflexes and physical fitness, all things she lacked in varying degrees. To train and groom herself into a hunter would require a level of dedication she’d only previously applied to the family business, but the drive was there. Hidden beneath layers of encroaching depression and dysphoria, but it was there.

“Uhh Cam, you there?”

Greyson’s voice brought her back to the present. “Yeah,” she replied, “yeah, I want to go to HQ. Could you um, come pick me up anytime soon? I sold the truck.”

“Oh.” Greyson coughed. “Actually I can pick you up tonight. Is seven thirty okay?”

“Sure, I’ll pack my things.” Said things consisted of only a few changes of clothes, wallet and toothbrush. She’d be done in seconds. “I’ll meet you in the parkade.”

“Sounds good, later.”

As she ended the call, the sun marking on her hip tingled from beneath her skin, stronger than ever before.


	4. First Light

Cam bid a much-anticipated goodbye to Lestallum as Greyson drove through the security gates and onto the highway heading north, en route to Pallareth Pass. She was a child when she last came through the area, on a fishing trip at the Vesperpool with her aunt and uncle. The long drive made her carsick back then; today, she was sick with uncertainty. Had she made the right choice?

Greyson seemed to sense her concern from the driver’s seat. “Stop worrying, Cam. Nolan started out right where you are. You’ll get some training with different weapons and it’s good gil.”

She didn’t respond, her eyes on the trees as the truck slowed to handle the winding roads of the pass, daemons frolicking in their apocalyptic wasteland in the clearings and on the opposite side of the road. She rubbed her soulmate marking under her shirt, which hadn’t stopped prickling her skin since she got off the phone earlier that evening. It felt like an allergic reaction to something though the surface seemed otherwise unaffected, the same pigment of the marking slightly darker than her beige skin.

“I know,” the lightbulb in Greyson’s head went off, “I’ll take you out on some small hunts, maybe some lesser daemons or something.”

“You still hunt?” Cam asked, shifting in her seat. “I thought you were on provisioner duty.”

“Yeah, I still got it in me.” He chuckled and patted his slight beer belly. “Little weight never slowed me down, I’m as good as the day they hired me.”

Cam frowned. “You’d do that for me, help me train? What about the supply runs?”

Greyson shrugged as the truck entered a tunnel. He flicked on the high beams. “I’ll figure something out. Owe it to my best bud to get his girl on her feet.” He offered a sincere smile; Cam wished she had one in her to return the favor.

Staring at the tunnel walls made Cam’s stomach turn so she opted to check her phone, flicking her thumb back and forth between screens absently. She made an attempt at small talk. “How many hunters are at HQ?”

“Hmm,” Greyson gave it some consideration, counting in his head. “Say ‘bout thirty, it’s always changing though.”

 _Always a turnover rate,_ Cam thought to herself. Worst case scenario, she would fall victim to a hunt and be free to join Nolan wherever he was in the afterlife. Probably helping his father fix up the motorcycle that collected dust in his parent’s garage, if given the choice.

They cleared the tunnel and the vehicle slowed down, crawling passed a guard’s post. Cam checked out the area from the passenger’s seat as Greyson looked for a place to park. The rock shelf overhead gave the feeling of enclosure in the outdoors, spotlights strung on either entrance to the base underneath, a death trap for daemons and intruders. Underneath the stone roof, lighting was much easier on the eyes as buildings came into focus. Shops and weapon vendors lined most of the far wall, while an area dedicated to target practice was staged nearby, a younger recruit firing off a crossbow at a dummy from a distance.

The same general store Cam recognized from her childhood was still standing, though having been souped-up with armor and first aid supplies instead of advertising a new flavor of moogle pops. Next to it a massive bulletin board was erected, countless pins of available hunts and daemon sightings plastered to it, waiting to be eliminated. A younger boy was stapling new ones as Greyson drove by, the stack of flyers in his hand considerably thick.

Greyson pulled into a spot next to the barracks, a group of hunters hyping themselves up nearby. It sounded like they were heading out for a behemoth hunt. Correction, a pack of behemoths. Cam’s skin crawled at the idea. They passed by the truck just as she hopped out.

Something tugged at her middle, like a rope tied around her midsection. She snapped her head in the direction of the pull and her heart caught fire.

There he was, like a light in the dark. She had seen the sun for the first time in years; the man she’d met in the market that day, the man who had the same mark on his hip as her. Said mark had gone from tingling, to blazing the moment her eyes landed on him. Cam felt an almost irresistible pull towards the stranger but she steeled herself, digging the heels of her boots into the dirt, one hand on the passenger door to keep from heading his way. Her thoughts were screaming, convinced this wasn't actually happening.

He must have heard those thoughts, because he located her without issue. He was caught off guard and as if not in control of his own body, took two steps towards her before he stopped himself, large hands balled into fists, lips parted and thick brows gathered in confusion.

Try as she did, Cam couldn’t take her eyes off of her soulmate. From the looks of it, the he was in the same boat.

Seconds passed before one of the hunters tapped the man on the shoulder, taking more than one attempt to grab his attention. He reluctantly turned away, following the other hunters into a military vehicle, which took off in the opposite direction.

For the first time in almost a minute, Cam exhaled. It felt like her hip was on singed, suitable for the sun shape marking but distracting her from everything.

“Cam, you good?”

Greyson showed concern for the woman. She blinked for the first time in a while before looking at him. “Oh, yeah. Sorry about that.”

“I should introduce you to the head honchos,” he noted, leading her over to one of the buildings. All the while she tried to listen to his words, they might as well have gone in one ear and out the other. Cam’s thoughts were a whirlwind. Why’d he have to be here? Why’d he have to even be alive still? Why couldn’t he have been killed long ago, rendering her sun-shaped marking useless?

And why’d it have to be someone so intimidating?

Greyson knocked on the door to the office and waited. A rough-looking man opened the door and welcomed them inside. “Greyson, good to see you, man.”

“Thanks.” Greyson made introductions. “Cam, this is Dave Auburnbrie, Dave this is Cam Reynolds.” His voice dropped somewhat. “She’s uhh, Nolan’s girl.”

Dave leaned against a desk, his face showing remorse. “Please to meet you. Sorry about Nolan, he was a hell of a good hunter. Smart kid, sharp.” He looked to his feet. “Really made a difference around here.”

A few seconds passed in uncomfortable silence before Greyson spoke. “The Marshal around?”

“He was helping Dino with triage intake, handful of recruits decided to take on a Daemonwall. One of them didn’t make it.”

“Shit.” Greyson exhaled, hands on his hips. “Cam wants to become a hunter, or help out around here, whichever is most required.” He looked at her for approval and she nodded.

Dave’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, that’d be swell. I’ll have to have you fill out some particulars, just some personal info and we’ll have your tags made up right away.” He handed a clipboard, pen and waiver over to Cam and gestured her over to an armchair to take a seat.

It was basic requirements; full name, date of birth, blood type, contact information. She crossed out the address section, a lump in her throat, and tapped her pen when she got to the last blank. “Umm,” she looked up at the two of them. “I don’t have...anyone, to put here.”

Dave frowned. “Oh...Leave it blank, that’s fine. Just sign the bottom part.”

Cam scrawled her name at the bottom just as the door to the office opened. “Ah, Marshal,” Dave greeted him, “how are the recruits?”

“Better, the younger one will probably lose a finger or two,” the newcomer replied, his voice stern. “If their skills had been on-par with their bravery, they might have felled the Daemonwall.”

Greyson coughed. “You mean stupidity, huh Cor?”

He didn’t respond, instead turning his attention to Cam. Cor addressed her in third person, as if she wasn’t there. “Who’s she?”

Both Dave and Greyson shifted simultaneously, as if either didn’t want the responsibility of responding to the Marshal. A flux of grit spiked in her and Cam stood, slowly, handing the clipboard back to Dave in the process. “Cam, Cam Reynolds. I’m here to recruit and train as a hunter.”

Cor eyed her with apprehension, steel blue irises that hid a tale of multiple generations before her, his face in a perma-frown. “Can you handle yourself in a fight?”

Cam reeled slightly. “N-no, I need to go through training-”

“What weapons do you specialize in?”

So this was how he’d play it. The intimidation bested Cam. “Uhh, I don’t know-”

“How many daemons have you eliminated?”

“None…”

The silence caused the pulse in Cam’s ear to beat with deafening thrums. The Marshal looked about to speak, but she interjected before he could open his mouth. “Look, I-I know I’m not halfway cut out for this, but I want to train, I want to learn how to fight.” Cam took a step forward, her knees stiff, and spoke from a broken heart. “My fiance...Nolan Duchene, was a hunter. He was killed by a daemon, and it nearly killed me as well. That’s a life, gone. Our life, gone.”

She paced around the room, feeling their eyes on her. “I want to make a difference. I want to do this, for him. For me.”

Cam turned back to face Cor, who held the same apprehensive look towards her. He sighed. “I fought alongside Duchene once. Good man, though I hope you’re better with a sword than he is.”

“Give me a chance to get there.” Cam surprised herself, the fire she spoke with a newfound trait.

“It’s settled then,” The Marshal nodded at Greyson. “She’s your responsibility. Take her on some intermediate hunts, start her on firearms until she’s comfortable reducing her distance from them.”

“Will do, though I’ll need to get someone else on supply duty,” Greyson replied. “Any suggestions?”

Dave checked a roster list of hunters against their rankings, flipping the page over and skimming through. “Bump Kessler in, just give him the go-over of the routes to each vendor and if he can’t, show him how to drive.”

Cor turned to leave, his hand on the door. “I expect a progress report, Phillips. If she can’t hold her own, let me know.”

And then as soon as he arrived, he left. Cam felt a weight lift from her shoulders as Greyson patted her on the back. “Heh, standing up to the Immortal himself. Not something many people can cross off.”

Cam gave him an apologetic look. “Uhh, thanks? Don’t know where that came from…” Usually the one to let others dispute, she never excelled in confrontation. Something shifted in her mind as she spoke to the Marshal, though. A courage that intrigued her.

It also terrified her.

Dave put her application on top of a stack of others. “Greyson, show Cam to the barracks and find her a free bunk, will you?”

 

 

Sleep wasn’t gracing Cam with it’s presence, even though she’d turned in as soon as Greyson found a spot for her in the back of the room of twenty-plus beds. She checked the time on her phone whenever someone came in, attempting to keep track of when the most foot traffic came through, but gave up before long as she overheard two people discussing the staggered schedules among their peers. After her usual rituals of sleep failed to get her down, she climbed out of bed, pulled her sweater back on over her clothes, and tried not to make the floorboards creak as she headed for some fresh air.

Cam perched herself on an old guardrail, flipping through her phone to try and find a distraction from the burning at her hip. It was flaring up again, having previously calmed to that of stoked embers instead of white-hot steel against her skin.

She looked around, taking in the sights and sounds of the hunter base. Across the road cutting straight through the small town, a couple of hunters sat outside a food truck as someone took their orders. They would have been altogether unintriguing had it not been for an oddly familiar shock of blonde hair, facing away from her. Where had she seen that hairstyle before? She couldn’t place it…

The military vehicle that left earlier pulled up and Cam’s breath caught in her throat. She felt like ducking and hightailing out of sight, but her brain didn’t seem to want to connect thoughts with actions and so she sat still, watching, waiting.

She didn’t have to for long. He sauntered off the tarped vehicle and the second his foot hit dirt, his eyes were on her.

It was a strange feeling akin to a lion stalking a gazelle, the cursory time between discovery and pursuit. The problem was, she couldn’t decide whether she felt like the predator, or the prey. She was hyper-aware of the branding at her hip, biting back tears from the pain. Why did it have to hurt so much?

It overwhelmed her. Cam all but jumped back off the railing and headed back into the barracks, where she tucked in for the first of many sleepless nights.

 

 

Gladio watched her flee until she was out of sight, the swell in his chest calming as he turned to join his friends at the table nearby. He was well aware of the dull ache at his hip, right where his sun-shaped soulmate marking was. Grabbing a spare chair, he pulled up to the pair at the table and took a seat.

“What was that all about, dude?” Prompto gestured a hand towards the barracks, where the woman was. “Got some unfinished beef or something?”

He didn’t respond at first, the burning at his hip not leaving anytime soon. “That was her.”

Prompto let out a quiet gasp while Ignis piped up. “My word. Are you certain?”

“Yep.” Gladio hadn’t felt the pull since he first saw her in the market of Lestallum, his eye catching the small sun-shaped marking on her hip as the hem of her shirt raised up with her movements. She was with someone else though, and he wasn’t about to interrupt that. He told his friends about it, when one night at camp they talked about soulmates and how they came to exist. Ignis drabbled over the mythology about it, but all the while he could only see her face, her smile, the dimple at her right cheek…

Two years she haunted his dreams, the mystery woman from the market. He’d thought she’d be long since dead; to find her alive and well?

It... _complicated_ things.

Ignis adjusted the rim of his tinted glasses. “Given the circumstances, how are you proceeding?”

Gladio clenched and unclenched his fist. “I don't know. Just…” He stood, eyes back towards the barracks.

“Please, don’t mention this to Steph.”


	5. Red

When Cam’s alarm went off at eight, she’d already had the phone in her hand and was browsing the recent news reports. She sighed at the total lack of sleep she got, stretched and grabbed her toothbrush and headed to the showers.

The water ran hot, thank the Six, something she wasn’t used to back at the Reynold family house. Lukewarm was the best they could get on a good day, the list of plumbing outfitters in the world of darkness pretty scant, and a hot shower while she worked at the power plant in Lestallum was not an option. Cam took her time until the morning rush came through, brushing her teeth as she rinsed off, wringing her chest-length curls and tying them up in a ponytail. She wrapped her middle in a towel before leaving to the changing rooms.

On her way, Cam encountered the most beautiful woman she’d ever laid eyes on in all her twenty-five years.

Drop dead gorgeous was putting it lightly. The creature padding her way on bare feet was all lean muscle and defined curves, a chest threatening to spill over the top of her towel wrap, her skin cream and roses though silvery scars peeked through in random patches. Locks of cherry-red silk cascaded over the siren’s shoulders, bouncing in tandem with her breasts as she sauntered by, a catastrophic smirk tugging at her lips.

Cam tried not to stare, looking past her to the far wall instead as she kept walking. Her self-confidence took a hit and she had to straighten her shoulders back in place. Underneath her towel, the faintest sting against her hip drew her attention. The idea of gouging the damn thing from her skin didn’t sound so bad; the unpredictable reactions were throwing her through a loop.

She changed briskly and headed back to the barracks to drop her things off when her phone beeped, twice. It was Greyson, asking to meet him at the armory.

She ducked into the shop, the scent of leather and oil assaulting her olfactories while displays of bracers, chest pieces and shinguards covered the walls from top to bottom. Greyson was holding a pair of black leather armguards, looking a bit too narrow for his thick forearms. “Hey Cam,” He greeted her and held the bracers up. “Try these on.”

They felt strange, foreign. Cam hadn’t put on a piece of armor in her life. The best comparison her mind could determine was a tight bracelet. Greyson instructed how to attach the bracer on her dominant arm, like a parent teaching their child to tie their shoelaces, and she fixed the one on her non-dominant hand.

Greyson was waiting for her opinion. “Well, what’ya think?”

“They’re…nice?”

“They aren’t supposed to be _nice,_ ” he said, locating the price tag and fishing for gil in his pockets. “They’re supposed to protect you and keep your blood inside your body.”

Cam frowned. “You don’t have to buy them for me.”

“Consider it a gift,” He insisted before telling the vendor to keep the change. “Your first piece of hunter certified armor. Wear it with pride, yadda yadda. Just keep remembering to portion out your earnings to fund new or replacement armor, especially if you decide to venture into melee combat.”

“No way,” Cam shook her head. “I’ll stick with firearms, don’t think I could ever get that up close and personal. Too dangerous.”

Greyson shrugged. “Suit yourself. Speaking of firearms, we need to pick up your piece. First one’s free, but you break it, you buy it…”

On the way to the weapons dealer, a familiar red mane caught Cam’s eye. Sure enough the siren from earlier stood chatting with a couple of high-ranking hunters, her hip jutting to the side in tight leather pants and a black wool turtleneck outlined the dips of her narrow waist. It wasn’t fair for her to exist, Cam thought, despite how irrational it was of her considering she didn’t know her from Adam. Even the way she carried herself-

“Not nice to stare, Cam,” Greyson chuckled, “though I don’t blame you.”

“Who is she?” Cam attempted to keep her tone casual.

They arrived at the weapons vendor before Greyson responded. “She’s the gilmaster, basically divides up the percentage HQ collects on all hunts to keep us stocked and vendor fees paid, plus we gotta eat somehow. She’s like, I dunno, the head accountant. Used to be a badass swordsman-err, swordswoman, back in the day.”

Though she wanted to, Cam stopped herself from looking over her shoulder at the woman. “Huh, alright then.”

The weapons vendor must have known she was coming, as he held out a pristine, silver pistol for Cam. “Hey, this is for you.”

Cam’s eyes lit up as he handed it over, pointing out the safety, how to reload the clip, what bullets to buy. She was keen to learn and memorized his instructions, feeling as if the weight of information was overwriting some other aspect of her skillset in the process. Perhaps she wouldn’t need to know how to properly germinate pepper seeds anymore…

Once locked and loaded, Greyson and Cam stopped to grab an Ebony to go before they looked over the giant bulletin board of available hunts. Leaving it to the expert, Cam stood back and tried to gather an estimate of the total flyers. She lost track at one-fifty. Her stomach tied in knots.

Greyson pulled a flyer from the board and brought it over to her. A handful of imps, payout five-hundred gil. “This’ll be easy, think no one’s cleaned it up cause it’s a cheap payout. But you can probably cover this yourself.” He looked up. “Ready to head out?”

A deep breath, followed by a tired smile. “Yeah, ready.”

 

 

The wind picked up near the Nebulawood, where Greyson parked the truck in the shoulder of the road and hopped out, Cam right behind him. He checked the map on his phone against the coordinates and nodded, pointing towards a path in the thicket. “Closest route is up the path a ways, then we’ll need to head into the bush.”

They hopped the railing and made their way through the thicket of trees, flashlights darting side to side, watching each other’s backs as they began to head into unmarked territory.

Cam’s tension was at an all time high, her ears straining to pick up any unusual sounds though the gusts whistling through the forest made it difficult. She kept alert, as alert as zero sleep could offer at least.

A few yards into the brushes and Cam spotted an otherworldly flicker of purple light to the west. She tapped Greyson’s shoulder, silently jabbed a thumb in the direction of the sighting and he nodded.

As they approached, the light flickered and disappeared, popping up a couple more yards back. It was aware of their presence, and began toying with them. Cam wasn’t having it, though. Feeling a surge of boldness out of fucking nowhere, Cam withdrew her pistol and flicked the safety off, lined up a shot with her flashlight as a guide, and fired.

She missed.

“What the SHIT, Cam?!” Greyson fought to keep his voice down while scolding her. “We haven’t even-”

Three, four, seven imps were on them in seconds, more than they’d prepared for and all at once. One of them grabbed onto Cam’s shoulders, it’s claws digging into the fleshy part of her back and she hissed through clenched teeth. At the same time, one of them tried to gnaw her leg off, the thick fabric of her jeans preventing any major injury but not standing up to the job for much longer.

Not four feet from her, another imp was preparing to cast a spell.

Cam steeled herself, weighing her options. She aimed at the imp on her leg, lined the barrel up with it’s forehead and pulled the trigger. The resulting wet crunching sound and burst of light tapped into her adrenaline stores. Blackish purple daemon blood spattered her face. She quickly pointed the gun over her shoulder and fired at the imp on her back, the deafening crack of the bullet making her ear pop. Without a moment to spare, Cam reeled back and aimed at the imp, who was just lurched in throes of hurtling a spell towards her, but she caught him in time and fired with perfect aim.

The entire exchange took less than three seconds, but for Cam felt older by the time she was freed of their clammy claws. Greyson was managing well enough on his own, his axe one-shotting the other imps, childsplay as he coined it. A final daemon made an appearance and with a nod from Greyson, Cam shot it down with two rounds.

When they were certain the group was finished off, Greyson chuckled loudly. “Well, that went better than expected.”

Cam felt alive, a tad excited that she’d completed her first hunt. She did as Dave asked, grabbing a photo of the dead daemons as ‘proof of elimination’, and wiped the black blood from her cheek. Another shower would be in order when they got back.

“Well,” Greyson took the lead back to the truck, “you handled yourself pretty well.”

Cam scoffed. “It was only imps, nothing life threatening.”

“Excuse me?” He squealed behind his shoulder as they hopped back onto the road. “Had that imp got that spell off, you’d be missing skin. Be grateful and take the compliment.”

For the first time in a while, Cam smiled a genuine smile and shoved Greyson in response. “Fine, I did good.”

As they got back in the truck, a wicked idea crossed Cam’s mind. “Can we…do another?”

 

 

They pulled into hunter HQ just after six, soaked to the bone in a layer of daemon blood, ichor, mucus and a myriad of other daemon fillings. Cam was absolutely beaming, though; she’d raked in over three grand worth of gil, finished five hunts and was alive to tell the tale. But the money wasn’t the appeal to her. The hunts proved to be excellent therapy. Hard to be down when you’re shooting at a flan.

Greyson had to shake his head. “You’re taking to this like a fish to water. I’m impressed.”

“You’re telling me.”

They hopped out of the truck, gathered their earnings for the fifth time today, and pulled up a seat at the food vendor. The cook took their order, Greyson jabbing at Cam that she ought to pay for them as she was moneybags right now, and Cam took a long sip of her well-earned beer. When she looked up over the rim of her glass, they weren’t alone.

A shorter man with a blonde frock strolled up, and Cam recognized him, though she couldn’t place him. “I know you,” she announced, chewing her thumbnail. “Have we met?”

He was bashful all of a sudden. “Oh! Uhh well no, not exactly.” He pulled something from his backpack, a photo album, and slid it over to her. “Check out near the back, the one labelled Lestallum.”

Curious, Cam did as she was told, flipping through a bunch of pages at once until she found the correct grouping. A few random shots of kids playing, an older man dealing cards, the sunset over the meteor…

Her heart ached at the sight, but she kept scanning through the photos, until she saw her younger self looking back at her from behind the Reynold’s family produce stand.

A face of innocence. Ignorance. It truly was bliss, back then.

“You took my picture,” Cam looked up at him, a small smile on her lips. “Good to see you…?”

“Prompto,” He offered, pulling up a seat. “I never got your name, either. We’re really bad at introductions!”

Cam nodded. “We are. Name’s Cam. This here’s Grey-”

“Yeah, I know this lug,” Greyson gave Prompto a little fist bump. “What’s new, bud?”

Cam had every intention of listening to their conversation, until the color red not appeared in her peripherals. She glanced over, and wish she hadn’t.

The siren leaned against the wall of the armory, exposing her neck for Cam’s soulmate to plant a hungry kiss along her jawline, and then another, and then another for good measure. His hands ghosted over the perfect dips of her waist and hips, rounding around to her backside to press her close to his body. She bit her lip before letting out a heavy breath, grabbing a fistful of his cocoa shag and bringing his lips against hers.

The wind was knocked out of Cam and her hip ignited, a branding iron to her sides as she watched on in pain, pain she couldn’t stop no matter how tight she squeezed her lids shut. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, anything to distract her from the assault, but nothing brought salvation. Nothing could get the image of the red haired woman and the man marked for her, out of her mind.

It wasn’t fair. He was destroying her. 

She didn’t even know his name.

As the woman dipped to kiss his neck, his eyes found Cam and he stared, an expression she couldn’t decipher in his liquid eyes.

It was too much.

Right as the cook brought out their dishes, Cam flung some gil on the table and stormed off, her fingernails cutting red crescents into her palms.


	6. Giving Chase

For the first couple weeks at HQ Cam went on as many hunts as she could handle, and as many as Greyson’s time permitted. A routine developed; up at eight, an Ebony to go, handful of hunt flyers stuffed under her arm and ammo clips stacked in her pack at the ready. They’d plan a route based on the locations and do a circle around, one after the other, snapping pictures of their slain and dog-earring the hunts they’d completed. Cam’s cellphone gallery became a grotesque slideshow of dead daemons, but after so long she treated them as trophies, the more the merrier.

She thought the same for the gil. Hunt bounties paid well and even with the retainer percentage given back to HQ Cam had earned enough to purchase a second pistol and more armor, a black leather vest that zipped snug just passed her bosom and a set of fingerless leather gloves that helped her grip on her guns, especially when coated in daemon ichor. Prompto gifted her a bandana and she’d tied it around her neck, blending in with seasoned hunters in no time at all.

The sharpshooter himself had tagged along on the occasional hunt as well, providing a world’s worth of pointers and showing Cam the weak spots on larger creatures. Had she’d known that firing straight into a Bomb’s mouth that it would trigger their self destruct, she’d have saved a fuckton of ammo from their hunt a few days ago.

Cam was forever grateful for the time Greyson dedicated to training with her. He joked that he needed it, that his chestpiece was getting loose. Much to Cam’s annoyance however, he was still listed as provisioner until the new guy was fully trained in, so they had to quit around the dinner hour while Greyson went off to take care of that responsibility, leaving Cam alone to reload her ammo clips, alone with her thoughts.

She despised downtime. The ache in her side would creep back, her mind no longer occupied with predicting monster’s movements or counting her bullets or memorizing the hazard colors on each hunt flyer, red being the most dangerous while blue were easy pickings. It was during these hours before sleep that she dreaded most, because despite her attempts to focus on something, anything, she thought of _him._

And it was hard not to because he turned up _everywhere she went_. Asshole. Cam had to wonder if it were spontaneous, complete coincidence, or if he felt the draw as well. It was automatic, sometimes remarkably before even catching sight of him. In rare instances she’d have to hold onto something to steady herself, and stop her feet from taking her towards him.

But regardless of the problems encountering him alone prohibited, catching him with Steph was a whole other story.

It always burned, pain in varying degrees depending on their level of PDA, the more intimate the gesture the hotter the sting. Prompto had mentioned the woman’s name in conversation one night at the bar and it left an aftertaste on her tongue.

He’d also mentioned his name; Gladio.

“That short for something?” Cam asked, trying her best to not seem overly interested.

“Gladiolus,” Prompto had responded, drawling out the O and rolling his tongue. It caught the man’s attention, who was holding hands with Steph from across the bar, his other hand peeling the label from his beer, just as Cam was doing to hers…

“That’s the name,” His rough voice replied, “what’dya want?”

She’d never heard him speak before. Of course it was music to her ears, of course she could hear it for a lifetime and beyond. She hated him for it, downing her stale beer before slapping ten gil on the counter and heading out, her hand trying to smother the fire at her hipbone.

Had it not been for the thrill of the hunt, the absolute mind-numbing trance the sight of daemon blood induced, she would have left on day one. But she hunted to stay sane, savoring the moments where her brain wasn’t saturated in thoughts of her soulmate…thoughts of Nolan….it was constant tug of war, both the living and dead vying for her tormented mind, both causing pain. When she hunted, that pain was pushed off to the side, survival instincts taking the wheel.

She needed that now, the escape. She needed a big payoff.

Greyson was out on a supply run with the new driver, so she was left to her own devices. He was foolish to toss the keys to his own truck under his bunk.

Cam scanned the board for a hunt to fly solo on, several blues and some greens standing out. They were quick hits though, something that would distract her for a small amount of time before reality came crashing back. She needed something with meat to it.

Smack dab in the center of the board, a yellowed flyer peeked out from beneath newer, easier hunts plastered around it. Cam pulled it free, scanning the details in red font.

Naga.

She pocketed the hunt paper, checked her bag was stocked with ammo and slipped into Greyson’s truck.

 

“Okay but you’re getting the next round, big guy.”

Steph looked at Gladio through her lashes, hoping he was picking up what she was putting down. He wasn’t. He couldn’t tear his attention away from that goddamn woman who stormed out. For weeks he’d wanted nothing more than to get her out of his head, get the drive to be near her out of his system. Sure Steph was a good distraction and an even better fuck, but she lacked something. A sun on her hip, to be exact.

Gladio sighed, turning back to his girlfriend. “Oh, that so? Well I-”

He stopped, unable to speak.

Steph waved a hand in front of his frozen face. “Hey, babe. You there?”

Something had hooked through Gladio’s core, the very fibres of his being splitting at the tension, the force shooting through his soulmate mark. He couldn’t ignore it, the weight of the world countering his mass. Without a word, he stood and stormed out of the bar.

“Dude! What’s the deal??” Prompto called after him, spinning around on the bar stool.

Steph watched Gladio leave and shook her head. “Whatever, he’ll be back. He owes me a rye and coke.”

 

Once outside, Gladio followed the internal compass tugging him forward, towards the…hunt postings? That couldn’t be right-

He caught it. Being stationed at HQ for so long, everyone and their dog had scoffed and joked about taking on one of the strongest daemons ever sighted. You were smart though, to not ever take it on. If you said you were serious, people would talk you out of it, tell you to jump a bridge if you’re feeling that way, because you’d save someone a hell of a lot of cleanup.

The flyer with said hunt, was now missing. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together.

Gladio’s marking burned like hellfire as he spun around, the sound of tires against asphalt catching his attention.

The girl was going out to by herself, and she picked the mother of all hunts. She had no idea what she was getting into. Or did she?

No. He wouldn’t sit idly by to find out. The thought of how her death, this star-crossed stranger’s death, would affect him…

Gladio hopped into his Jeep, cranked the key in the ignition, hoping like hell he had some spare elixirs in the glove box as he sped off after her.


	7. Flesh Wounds

The naga hunt was located near the Disc of Cauthess, the impact site of a meteorite from generations ago. More than once Cam considered turning the truck around, after all the drive was a long one, but then her side would flare up as flashbacks of Gladio and Steph rapid-fire assaulted her concentration and she’d give it more gas, reaching speeds well over the posted limit. Not like anyone would pull her over.

Self preservation was absent tonight. Cam knew somewhere in the deep recess of her psyche that what she was taking on could result in major injury; getting killed was also in the cards. Regardless, she had to do this. Even if it offered her tormented mind a moment’s release, it was enough.

Cam pulled over at the dead end of the access road and scanned through the flyer again, the flashlight held between her teeth. She plotted out a route using the map on her phone, shouldered her ammo pack and headed out into the endless night.

 

_Fucking woman has a lead foot,_ Gladio thought as he pushed the Jeep to its limits, the boxy vehicle whipping around tight turns so hard he had to lean upright to counter the steer. He’d only caught sight of her taillights further back, and even then they were blurry at best. There was also another key issue; He didn’t know the exact location. Sure he’d review the hunt details before, considered starting a hunting party to go claim the bounty, but the specifics were foggy. All he could recall was that it nested near the Disc, but at which side? There was a gravelled access road to the south that didn’t appear on most map sites. His gut instinct told him she’d probably never known about the unmarked path, so he turned off onto the main exit.

The wrong exit.

 

Cam wove through the brambles and dead foliage, startled by the absolute silence that made the crack and snapping of twigs under her boots almost deafening. She could just make out an end to the treeline up ahead, an open field on the other side. She checked her phone’s GPS; it was close.

Having reached the edge of the small clearing she skirted the perimeter and checked for any telltale signs of the daemonic snake. A thick fog hung low in the air, a miasma of foreboding and warning. The long-since dead grass lay flat against the earth in spots, curving patterns cutting through sections leaving random tufts in patches. It had definitely come through here.

Checking her six, she withdrew her pistols, safety off.

 

Gladio reached the end of the road, concern creasing his forehead as he rounded the last turn. Lady luck missed role call; her truck was nowhere to be found. Still he pulled up to the dead-end street sign, killed the ignition and got out.

His hearing wasn’t top notch but after several seconds of silence, six consecutive gunshots echoed in the distance to the south, closer to the Disk. After a pause, another five shots, and then…

A horrifying scream cut the darkness, female and brimming with pain. Then silence.

_NO-_

Gladio panicked and bolted back to the Jeep, pulse frantic in his head as he threw the driver’s side door open and was driving off before he shut it, white-knuckling the steering wheel as he whipped the Jeep around, his soulmate marking seared to the bone.

 

As expected when he reached the end of the access road, her truck lay abandoned on the shoulder. He pulled up behind it and all but leaped from the vehicle, taking off headstrong into the trees without forethought. It was too goddamn quiet. His insides did back flips and he began to second-guess his sense of direction. He had no indication where she was, only a scream from across the forest to go on. Yet at the same time, he knew exactly where to go, the path leading towards the edge of the woods. He could make out an open space up ahead.

Gladio entered the clearing and the world stopped moving.

Several yards away, Cam’s body lay in a crumpled crescent facing away from him, motionless. Still.

His knees faltered, feeling like the ground was giving way to swallow him whole. It might as well have for the sight before him was shattering his soul, his sanity, slivers of his being spilled between the cracks, out of reach. The edges of his vision greyed out and the sun at his hip hardwired pain to his chest, like connecting to a car battery.

He approached her, each step daggers to his heart as he neared her broken form, the person assigned to him by the Astrals, this stranger who he’d let go on for far too long not knowing a thing about, all because he was _afraid,_ afraid of the unknown, afraid of caring, afraid of who he was…He cursed himself as he hunched down to turn her over on her back, leaning her shoulders against his thighs.

Her face was expressionless, tranquil, save for the angry vertical red gash spanning above her left brow straight down her cheek, abruptly ending at the soft edge of her jawline. Blood mixed with tears and smeared in the socket corner of her eye and Gladio lifted a hand to wipe it away, as gentle as he could muster with his calloused fingertips.

Without warning her eyes flicked open, lashes brushing his digits as two pools of molten copper knocked the breath from his lungs. In this proximity of her being, her soul, her life…Like finding the missing piece to a jigsaw puzzle you started ages ago and left out, too invested to disassemble it and start over until that piece turned up where you least expected it to.

The corners of her mouth twitched upwards into the slightest smile possible against her tawny, chapped lips.

For the first time in twenty-five years of life, his heart skipped a beat.

Weakness was not an option, despite how easily her stare induced it. “Just what do you think you were doing?” He growled, a pang of regret in is throat as her smile disappeared in an instant.

Though not impart from his tone, as her eyes flicked from his to the side, fear shrinking her pupils. Her jaw quivered as she whispered. “Behind you…”

He could sense it, the movement, the shift in the air. Gladio froze in place. Sure enough the telltale _hisssss_ curdled his blood. He had to act fast, think later. He leaned forward and hooked an arm under Cam’s legs and another around her back, hoisting her up. She winced but didn’t protest. The hiss from behind grew louder, more animated.

One shot, that’s all he had. It was this or their lives.

Gladio inhaled, gripped Cam close, and launched up into a sprint towards the trees. The naga roared with enough guttural force to make the ground tremor as it made pursuit of its prey. A viscous, hot liquid spat at him and Gladio changed course slightly, veering more to the left to avoid the assault of venomous acid. Cam locked her arms around his neck, clutching to him for dear life, her head tucked into his chest.

A whooshing sound caught Gladio off guard and he turned his head, but the incoming tail whip from the naga swept and disconnected his feet from the ground and they fell hard, Cam rolling her shoulder in the process. She cursed through her teeth as she scrambled back, the naga setting it’s sights on Gladio, who had his back turned. Cam located one of her pistols and flicked the safety off, aimed for the naga’s face, and fired, over and over.

The naga reeled back in response, it’s agonizing throes shaking the trees surrounding the clearing. Cam became the primary target. _Good_ , she thought, _better me than him._

Cam reached into her ammo pack…one clip left. She must have lost some in the scuffle. Shit.

The naga was rearing back, fangs exposed and poised to attack, preparing for the kill.

Not today. Not yet.

She unlocked the spent clip, slammed the ammo in the chamber, took a deep breath and emptied her weapon into the daemon’s face.

All ten rounds pierced through the naga’s right eye, one right after the other in perfect succession. It jerked, brain riddled with lead, swayed drunkenly to the side before its body slammed into the earth, the last seconds of life twitching out violently.

She _did it._ She’d downed one of the most difficult hunts possible, thanks to a little luck and fierce aim. Cam blinked, still trying to convince herself the beast was dead yet there it was, slumped over in the dead grass, its pockmarked humanoid face spilling blood. Without hesitation, she pulled out her phone, took a few pictures of her kill for good measure and slid it in her back pocket.

Gladio seemed at a loss for words. He exhaled, turning over to stand upright above her. “Stupid, dumb luck,” he finally mused, admonishment in his tone. “Could’a gotten yourself killed!”

Despite his words, he held out a hand for Cam to take. She pursed her lips; he was raining on her parade. She took his hand and he pulled her up without any effort.

The draw was back with a vengeance, almost impossible to resist. It didn’t help that he was so close, that he hadn’t let go of her hand yet. His skin was hot, she could almost feel their pulses synch into rhythm -

Gladio dropped her grasp, his arm jerking back as if he touched a hot stove element. Before she could question it, he pointed to the left side of her face. “You’re bleeding, we gotta get you back and have Dino look at it.”

Cam frowned, gently testing the gouged skin. It stung. “That bad?”

“Probably need stitches.”

“Great.”

When they got back to the vehicles, Gladio stepped in front of her and barred access to the driver’s side of Greyson’s truck. “Excuse me?”

He shook his head. “Nuh uh. You aren’t driving with a fucked up eye. Not safe.”

“My eye is fine,” Cam groaned. Why’d he have to make this difficult? “It’s only a flesh wound.”

Gladio scoffed, crossing his muscular arms. “Not the first time I’ve heard someone say that…”

“Pardon?”

“Nevermind,” He moved passed her towards his Jeep. “You’re coming with me. I don’t trust your word and I’d rather not pull you from a wrecked vehicle. Only get one life saving per day.”

Cam chuckled dryly. “That so? Well this isn’t my truck, so you’ll have to figure out how to get it back to HQ.”

“If the doc clears you, I’ll bring you back here to pick it up myself.” His tone was sincere; he’d follow through.

Sighing, Cam ensured the truck was locked before circling around the passenger’s side of the Jeep and hopped in as Gladio turned the ignition.

“Buckle up, _naga slayer._ ”


	8. Change Hands

The drive back to HQ was tense. Cam leaned against the passenger window, her breath fogging the glass as she rubbed blood from the corner of her eye with the sleeve of her black undershirt. The gash had clotted for the most part but the spot above her eyelid was refusing to let up. She wiped the glass of condensation.

Cam learned early on that driving in a vehicle with Gladio in such close proximity was the worst thing to exist. More than anything despite how little she knew the man, there was nothing else she’d rather do than reach over and stroke the tattoo feathers of his forearm, following them up and around his back, where the rest of it hid beneath his black tank top. She blamed it on the Astrals; It was all their fault.

Gladio glanced at her while driving a straight stretch, running his palm back and forth over the steering wheel. He contemplated keeping his mouth shut, letting the drive be silent, but decided against it. “Your eye hurt?”

Cam kept staring out the window. “Not really. Shoulder does.”

Gladio sighed. “Right, sorry ‘bout that.” He stole another glance. “Why the hell were you taking on that thing by yourself, anyways? You don’t seem well-equipped enough to -”

“Excuse me?” Cam looked up at him, her eyebrows angled. “What do you mean, _well-equipped?_ I took that thing down with one handgun, if you don’t recall.”

“I-I mean like-” Another look. She was so plain, so ordinary. So, _civilian._ She didn’t belong in this business. He groaned. “You, haven’t been hunting for very long, right?”

Cam tried not to take offense to his prying look. “No, what of it?”

“Why this one?” Gladio grabbed the hunt flyer in his right fist, waving it. “Why a red? And with a gun? You’d be better off with swords or even daggers for that kind of asshole.”

“Well _sorr-y_ for not being a weapons expert,” Cam flushed with annoyance. “I killed it though, right? So your argument is invalid.”

“Psh, you got lucky and you know it.”

“You really know how to put a damper on things, don’t you?”

“Good, maybe you won’t do it again.”

“Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?!”

Gladio’s hands tensed on the wheel. He accelerated a bit, but eased off the gas once he noticed the change in speed. “Just…why put yourself in that kind of danger?”

Cam frowned. “What do I have to lose?”

“Uhh, your life for one thing.” He focused on the road, the telltale winding turns near HQ coming up. Almost there. “Unless that’s, you know, not important to you…”

She never considered herself the kind to let life go just like that, but since Nolan’s death she did feel less safe, less attachment to the living. The most attached she felt was to the man in the driver’s seat, but that was the doing of stars and not her own. “No, it’s important to me. Sorry, just a bad day, err week perhaps…Month…I don’t know.”

Gladio didn’t pry as he exited the tunnel and into hunter HQ, pulling into an open spot near the first aid shack. 

Just as she hopped out of the Jeep Greyson was on her, pulling her into a rib-crushing hug. “What the hell, Cam?! You went on a hunt by yourself?!” He leaned back from her, his eyes bulging at her cut. “Goddammit, are you alright?”

Cam exhaled, stepping back and rubbing her sore shoulder. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine, just getting it checked out, if you’ll excuse me…”

She ducked into the large shack, Gladio exceptionally close behind her, closing the door in Greyson’s face. Cam could hear his voice faintly from outside, “alright, I’ll wait here then…”

The clinic reeked of rubbing alcohol, though the distinct metallic tang of blood hung in the air. A younger man in a suit covered by a stained lab coat looked up from a magazine as Cam entered the office. “Eyy, just closed down for the night sweet-cheeks, ‘fraid ya gonna need to come back-”

He sat up straighter as Gladio came into view. “Oh ehh, evenin’ Mr. Amicitia, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Gladio stepped next to Cam. “Think she needs stitches, or something.”

Dino got up from his desk and circled around it towards the two of them, his face crinkling when he caught sight of Cam’s wound. “Aye, he rough ya up, dollface? Lemme take a look at ‘dat.”

Cam closed her eyes as he prodded her face, gently separating the cut where it had begun to scab over, checking the depth of the wound. He hummed and ho’ed. “Eh, kinda shallow. Definitely gonna scar, though. Sorry hun, least you’ll intimidate the fellas.”

He reached over to a small caddy, opened it up and pulled out some iodine, wetting a gauze pad with it and taking care to clean the cut without disturbing the skin as he dabbed along the gash. Across from Cam, Gladio leaned against a cabinet full of medical supplies, his expression indistinguishable. Whether lost in thought or just really interested in watching Dino work, Cam couldn’t tell.

Dino soaked up the antiseptic with a clean pad before applying some strips of suture tape to the bad spots. When finished he leaned back, admiring his handiwork. “There ya go, doll. Good’as new.”

Cam offered a bleak smile and thanked him before her and Gladio left the clinic. As promised, Greyson was outside waiting for them. “Fuck, Cam. I’m sorry, I-”

“You won’t be training her anymore,” Gladio announced, his shoulders rolling back a bit. “I’m taking over.”

Greyson seemed taken aback. “B-beg your pardon?”

“If you’d’ve trained her with proper weapons instead of cop outs she might’ve walked away without a scratch.”

Woah. Cam gaped at him while Greyson’s eyebrows shot up. “Hey, we were getting to those eventually,  she had to start somewhere!”

Gladio scoffed. “Fair enough, but I’ll take it from here-”

“Perhaps I can decide on my own instead?” Cam interjected, crossing her arms. It wasn’t like her to delve head-first into conflict, again something influencing her with it but she steeled herself, sighing and looking at her dead fiance’s best friend. “Greyson, thank you for helping me get this far, I really appreciate it, but I think I have a lot to learn from him.”

She turned to look at Gladio, his eyes…hopeful? It lasted but a brief second, but it was there, just long enough to give her resolve. “Alright, your turn I guess.”

Gladio nodded and stepped back, heading towards the bar. He spoke over his shoulder. “Meet me when you’ve collected your bounty. You owe me a cold one.”

Cam felt genuinely good about herself, the mark on her hip seemed to inject confidence into her bloodstream as she watched Gladio walk away. Greyson’s question pulled her from her thoughts. “What did you hunt?”

Cam whipped her head back to him and smiled, retracting somewhat at the sting of tension against her cut. “Naga.”

His eyes turned into saucers, gaping. “You what?! No fucking way….”

“Yes way.” She pulled her phone from her back pocket, opened it up to the photo gallery and showed him the trophy kill. Greyson’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit, Cam! You took that down by yourself??”

“Yep,” she couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit smug. “Three clips in total. It doesn’t like being shot in the face.”

“No shit,” Greyson shook his head with a massive grin. “Nolan would be so proud of you.”

At the mention of his name Cam frowned for a brief moment, though she knew he was right. Nolan would have been proud of her, finally standing up and having a fighting chance. “Yeah, I suppose so.”

Cam left Greyson and went to collect her earnings, an impressed Dave almost not believing she did it by herself, but he’d counted out the gil and made a side comment about underdogs and betting oh her more often. “Good to see that flyer finally gone from the hunt board,” he mentioned, rubbing a stubble-dusted chin. “You’ll be making a name for yourself in no time.”

“Just doing what I can,” Cam shrugged.

“All we ask. Anything helps.”

She stuffed the couple thousand gil in a tight wad and shoved it deep in her pocket before stepping inside the bar.

It was a busy night, the damp air outside keeping everyone indoors. Cam located Gladio easily, her mark finding him before she even caught sight the man and she headed towards him. He wasn’t alone, though she was glad to see Steph was nowhere to be found.

“Heya, Cam!” Prompto slid along the booth seat to give her a spot. “Heard you’re really shooting for the stars, eh?”

“Yes, rather impressive a feat you managed to pull off.”

That voice, it was uncanny to a fault. The man who spoke however, was not. “Have we met?”

“If I’m right in assuming,” he began, adjusting his dark shades, “You sold me some beetroots at market, in Lestallum.”

Cam’s eyes widened, realizing the three of them were the same group of friends from that day two years prior. They were missing one, though…She didn’t touch on that. Might be fresh wounds. “Good memory.” She looked him over once more, deciding he at least seemed to be a familiar face, though not in the same condition. “You didn’t um, have those scars though…?”

A heavy sigh. “Correct.”

Prompto took an opportune jab at the three of them. “Sheesh, you guys trying to start a club or something?”

The three of them shared perplexed looks. Prompto groaned. “Uhh, your left eyes? I look like a sissy next to you three.” He left to grab the next round, not before Cam slipped him a hundred gil.

After introducing herself properly to Ignis, she shuffled into the booth and leaned against the wall. She was tired, but something kept her going. The proximity to her soulmate if she had to guess. Cam was buzzing, her knee bouncing and tapping the table as she spoke up. “So, what’s on the agenda for training?”

He rubbed the underside of his dark beard, scratching at it. “Couple of hunts to get warmed up, then I’m showing you how to duel. Best way to get your reflexes up.”

Cam’s eyebrows hiked up. “Duel? Really?”

“Yes, really,” Gladio leaned back in his seat as Prompto returned with four frosty beers. He nodded and thanked him and took a swig. “Sparring with a partner will help you better than any daemon could because you’re matching up with one of your own species.”

“Brutish way to phrase it,” Ignis chided, “though accurate.”

Cam had already begun peeling the label from her beer bottle, fraying the paper edges as she looked up at Gladio. “Alright, what do I need?”

“Use some of that small fortune you just got paid and buy yourself a short sword.” He paused, considering something. “Make that _two_ short swords.”

“Two? That-”

“Gladdy, hun?”

Cam’s skin crawled, the melodic voice ice against her ears. Steph was approaching their booth, a strange lilt to her expression that made her look both sinister and innocent at the same time. She couldn’t trust it. Steph spoke again. “Gladdy, you didn’t text me that you got back. What’s the big idea?”

Gladio sighed, but seemed apologetic. “Sorry, babe.” He rose from his seat to put his arm around Steph. “Cam, this is-”

“We’ve met,” Cam stopped him. She noticed the daggers in her tone so she forced some sensibility in her voice. “Nice to see you.”

“All the same.” Conceited, above her.

Cam’s side flared up. She left her barely dented beer on the table and bid them goodnight, storming out of the bar for the second time that evening.


	9. Power

Cam flexed gloved fingers over the hilts of two weighted short swords, turning them to catch the light, their intricate filigree designs worth marvelling. They were lighter than she expected, yet she could already tell her arms would be jelly after a long fight.

Gladio looked at her expectantly. “Well?”

“They aren’t very short.”

Her response was met with an eyeroll. “That’s because you are. Average height people have no problems with their size.”

“I _am_ average height,” She protested, though would be lying if she denied having straightened her back a bit.

Gladio took a step closer to Cam until only inches separated them. Dangerously close; she could smell his shower gel. He looked down at her with a smirk. “So am I.”

She shoved him away, doing her best to ignore the sudden flutter at her hipbone. “To hell you are, I haven’t seen anyone your size around here.” Cam holstered the weapons and sighed, her breath a bit visible in the chill of morning air.

“Just something to get used to, I guess.”

Her first hunt with the swords was nothing to shake a stick at. Her wrists were weak, lacking the muscle and stability of seasoned swordsmen. Gladio had warned her they would be sore, but she didn’t complain. Change required pain, she thought, a temporary albeit necessary evil.

After her second hunt, cleaving her dominant sword down on the skull of a Bashura, she’d anticipated the soreness. It was there, lesser though. Icing them at the end of the day made it all worthwhile.

The third hunt was awkward. Flans are not meant for slicing and Cam took a beating, Gladio having to offer a shoulder as she hobbled their way back to his Jeep. The contact made her forget about the pain. It was a welcome reprieve.

It was only after countless hunts, when she’d stopped icing her wrists altogether as it wasn’t required, upgraded her swords to sharper ones, so many snapshots of the dead in her phone that she had to flick her finger to scroll past them all, did Gladio finally change up their almost daily routine. “We aren’t going hunting today.”

Cam laced up her new combat boots, the glint of metallic accents and shiny leather catching her eye. “Oh? What’s up?”

“I’m showing you how to duel.”

Her head shot up at him. “We are?”

“Yeah.” He worked a kink out of his neck and leaned against the Jeep. “Figure you’re used to those things enough to not take my arm off.”

“Wouldn’t want to mess up your tattoo.”

“Heh,” he chuckled dryily. “Paid decent gil for it, I’d rather keep it on my body.”

Right on que Steph slinked over like a jungle cat, skimming a milky hand across the muscled plains of his shoulders. “I’d rather be on your body, big guy.” she stopped in front of him and tilted his chin into a heavy kiss, her lips parted and devouring his mouth.

Another part of their daily routine was having to endure Steph’s petty attempts at getting a rise out of Cam, often succeeding but not to the point of Cam saying anything. She’d look off in another direction, fiddle with her fingerless gloves, tighten a strap on her chestpiece, anything to distract herself from the pang at her hip, stinging like barbed wire dragged across her skin.

After Steph had finished saying goodbye to Gladio, they headed out. The spot he chose was overlooking a massive gorge, the city of Lestallum on the other side. The residual light that spilled over the hub offered just enough to keep the daemons at bay while they sparred.

Cam stood before him, several paces away. “Now what?”

Gladio had his massive great sword drawn, casually rested over his shoulder. From hilt to tip the thing must have neared her size. Nervous tremors rolled off her in waves. His tone was casual.

“Attack me.”

Her eyes bulged. “No, I’d rather _not_ be killed today.”

“Do you trust me?”

Cam hesitated. “Yes.”

“ _Attack me._ ” 

His eyes looked up at her with steadfast determination. Ready for her.

With nothing to lose she drew her swords, inhaled, exhaled and charged forward, weapons poised to come crashing on him. Her heart screamed at her and the fire at her side shot pain to her core. This action went against her nature, against the path the Astrals mapped for them.

In a blink Gladio’s sword swung up and over his head, landing between her blades with a harsh _CLANK._ Cam could tell he wasn’t using his full strength otherwise she would be toast. He jutted the blade sideways and in some gesture that broke physics laws, pulled the swords from her grasp with a twist of his wrists. They flew from her grip and landed on the asphalt, clattering.

Cam froze, still trying to comprehend what happened. Gladio sighed. “Think it would be that easy?”

“One can hope, right?”

As Cam gathered her weapons off the ground, Gladio offered pointers and tactics. “Focus on your opponent’s body language. The side they relax their weapon on. Where they’re looking, ‘cause they’re tryin’ to figure you out as well.” He rested his sword back on his shoulder and paced to the side. “Never let them in your head. They do that and they get you off guard, you’re done for.”

Flicking her wrists and letting a kink out of her neck, Cam considered his advice. She studied his movements, how he carried himself; upon first glance it was even and strong, but with extra attention to detail, Cam could detect the slightest window of opportunity. There was a hesitation in his composure, as if he were struggling to keep his breathing rhythm steady. His shoulders seemed to dip, chest emptied of air. Vulnerable.

Cam readied herself, the little nod that Gladio gave her que. This time she did not charge him, opting instead to play the slow and stealthy card. Cat and mouse at it’s finest. Her eyes never left his, demanding his full attention, watching his moves from her peripherals. She was patient, eager to strike but at the same time hungry for the overtake so she circled and so did he, a slow stalk of amber alertness.

Finally, there. Cam was agile, her wrists long since accustomed to balancing the blades she wielded as she leaped forward towards her prey, her centric force directed without straying course. Her blade clipped the edge of his sword and he faltered; it was unexpected, startled. Her other blade met the opposite side and he flinched, though kept a firm hold on his weapon. Cam reeled back and struck again, this time he was ready for her and their blades bounced against each other’s, the loud clanking harsh on Cam’s ears, metal against metal and almost sparking on contact.

The exchange lasted longer than Cam anticipated, the transfer of energy against their steel back and forth getting her blood pumping, adrenaline tapped and mainlined, sweat beading along the now scarring wound on her face. Every chance she got to make eye contact, she did. Not only did it light a fire in her, but it got him off guard for the slightest second.

As the days went by their dueling interactions lasted longer, each one pushing her further and honing her reflexes. It engrained itself in her everyday occurences, her balance improving, attention to detail skyrocketing. Her body was adapting as well, the clothes she wore on her back when she first arrived at HQ becoming baggy around her frame, the spare tire she carried most of her adult life melding into taut flesh over toned muscle. She dreamt of it, matching his blows with mirrored tactic and finesse to counter the movement. Soon enough she craved the thrill of competition more than that of the hunt. Soon enough she almost leapt from her bunk everyday, excited to push her limits.

Soon enough, the pain of Nolan’s absence was pacified, the void filled with the fight. With Gladio.

Try as she did to deny herself, she was letting her soulmate marking get the better of her judgement. She had the color of his irises memorized, the duration of his breaths timed to the millisecond, the little grin he gave when she lasted longer than the previous fight, how invested he was in her, how much he strived to better her. It _made_ her better. It made her _want_ to _be_ better.

Not once had she succeeded in disarming him, though. He’d rendered her weaponless multiple times, but she held her own as she improved, their exchanges and clanking of blades back and forth the soundtrack of Cam’s life.

On one especially rainy evening, as they sparred like they had every night before, something shifted in Cam. A momentous quake in her mind, her lifeblood and essence. Her arms windmilled with speed and fury of a seasoned fighter towards Gladio, rain pelting against her already soaked-through armor, wet curls of her loosening ponytail splayed against her shoulders and neck. She was beautiful death and fury absolute. A machine. Terrifying.

For a fleeting moment Gladio’s heart stammered, watching the construct of lethality, a creature of his own creation before him, land blow after blow to his weapon’s edge.  And then, he’d missed the chance to counter; Cam’s blades all but fused to his sword, a force he’d never imagined possible from the petite woman knocking it from his grasp, the great sword smacking against wet pavement.

Cam was starstruck. She hesitated, the rain cold refreshment on her screaming muscles, before she let out a body-rocking laugh. She’d finally succeeded in disarming her opponent, disarming _GLADIO,_ the physically strongest person she’d ever met. She chuckled so hard her already exhausted lungs struggled to maintain airflow.

Barely a month ago she’d lost the love of her life, her home, her purpose, darkness of her own creation fogging her mind. But now, standing beneath the sheets of downpour, holding her weapons as an extension of her form and not  foreign objects, having bested her opponent before her, she was a complete one-eighty of her former life.

Powerful. Confident.

Lethal.

Gladio smiled, seeing her full of life and overjoyed. He’d never heard a genuine laugh from her before, and it’s dulcet sweetness softened his shell. He was proud of his protege, the girl who’d turned up one day after setting his heart aflame years before, stoking the flames and rekindling the fire. Her skin glistened in the rain, the light from nearby Lestallum making her skin sparkle.

He was near her without even noticing, his body acting on impulse, fueled by the alignment of stars predetermined before their birth. Cam was frozen in place, their torsos barely touching as Gladio placed a hand on her waist, tugging it forward as his head lowered, lips parted, rain-drenched and needing hers. Though darkness existed around them his eyes were a light at the end of the tunnel, promises of warmth and happiness and-

Suddenly Gladio’s phone went off, interrupting their shared musings. He exhaled, backed away from Cam and answered the phone call, his voice sandpaper. “Yeah?”

Cam knew who it was without asking. It was always the same, his red-haired siren beckoning his return, ensuring he didn’t spend more time with Cam than her. Promises that she was his world like reciting a script.

It was dismal to listen to, so Cam would throw her weapons in the back seat of the Jeep, get in the passenger seat and watch him through the windshield, a silent film of answering repetitive questions and tired assurances.

She rubbed the sun at her hip, the blaze renewed.


	10. Family

Cam sat perched on the railing of the armory, grinding a wet stone against the edge of her sword when her phone went off. She freed her hands to take the call. “Hey, Greyson.”

“Hi Cam, hey can you pop over to the admin office when you have a sec? Dave called a quick meeting.”

“Will do, be there in five.”

Her weapons sheathed across her back Cam headed for the office, nodding at several familiar faces along the way. She’d become a recognizable person at HQ, due in part from the sheer amount of hunts she turned in to date and Gladio may have let it slip that she disarmed him. Couple that with her form-fitting leather armor and pants and she gave them a reason to stare.

Cam knocked on the door to the office and was let in seconds later by Greyson. “Hey, we’re just waiting on Prompto.”

Dave leaned against the desk, reading through a list of jot notes until Greyson resumed conversation with him. Gladio gave Cam a lazy wave as she entered the office and she took a seat next to him, just as Prompto all but hopped into the room and pulled up a chair beside her. The room went quiet as everyone looked to Dave to speak.

“Thanks for coming, all. As you probably know, our research scouts detected some spikes in infrared readings just north of here.” He paced around the room as he continued. “They’ve also received reports of increased daemon sightings in the area. We’ve reason to believe the security here in HQ could be compromised, and soon.”

The air of the room was uneasy. Dave looked at Greyson. “I got the guys at Culless to double our order for this week-”

Greyson’s thick eyebrows shot up. _“Double??”_

Dave nodded. “With the recruits from the city getting trained plus the estimated threat level, we’ll need the extra stock for sure. I’m already looking into our armor vendor increasing next week’s order.

“That being said, due to the larger than normal load I’d rather have an experience provisioner transport the goods, and you three-” he motioned at Cam, Gladio and Prompto, “-are on guard duty. With increased daemon presence comes chance for looters and poachers, something we can’t afford to incur. Budget’s already tight as it is even after double supply run orders…”

The group nodded in unison and Prompto sprang from his seat. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road.”

“Right now?” Cam checked her phone. Half-past five in the evening. “Kinda late, don’t you think?”

Greyson considered it. “Actually, we could make it there and back tonight, easily. Dave, can you have some guys available to unload say, for eight-ish?”

He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen and replied, “Consider it done. Take the twelve-footer, gonna need the hauling power.”

“No way,” Greyson scoffed, “that thing is ancient, how is it still in commission?”

“It’s still running fine, just go easy on the brakes.” Dave pulled a set of keys from a safe and tossed them to Greyson. “Call me if there’s any issues.”

They left for Lestallum with the addition of Ignis, hitching a ride back so he could visit his wife and two year old son, possibly stay home with them for a while especially if a difficult situation with the daemons was potential. As they reached the outskirts of the city Prompto dotted on the subject. “So, Iggy, family life treating you well?”

Ignis replied from the back seat. “Certainly has decreased my chances of inevitable death. Though challenging even during the best of times, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I often wonder what I’d ever done to deserve a woman as remarkable and clever as Raine.”

From the front, Prompto turned back and gave Ignis an incredulous look, despite the fact that he couldn’t see it. “Dude, you existed. That’s all that mattered.”

Cam scrunched her brows together. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Beside her, Gladio spoke up. “Iggy and Raine are soulmates.”

Cam tensed at the word, struggling to keep her heart rate steady, the electricity buzzing between her and Gladio. “Oh, I see.”

Once at the gate outside of Lestallum, the guards opened the doors to grant access without needing to stop and they drove through, slowing to head down into the parkade, taking the spot on the end due to the large size of the vehicle. They piled out and Greyson made a call to his supplier. “Yeah, we’re in the parking lot. Head on over when you can.”

The weapons dealer pulled up in an equally large truck, popped the hatch and they got to work loading the truck with crate after crate of knives, guns and ammo. Ignis stood off to the side chatting with the supplier before pulling his phone out and calling his wife, announcing with a smile that he was back in the city for a spell. Cam overheard part of their conversation and it gave her a pang of grief. She missed having someone to come home to. She missed having a _home_ to come to, period.

Greyson packed the last crate on the truck, closed the hatch and wiped his hands on his pants. “Alright, done and done. Ignis, join us for a bite or?”

Ignis smiled, tucking his cane under one arm to adjust a glove. “I appreciate the offer, but I must take a raincheck. Nothing would make me happier than spending the evening in with my family.”

The group headed across the street and into the city hub, Prompto commenting on how he was expecting more people to be out tonight. Cam had to agree, the pedestrians roaming about were in far less numbers than when she was living here. And lucky for them, the main restaurant in the centre of town had some free tables. They’d have to snag those as soon as they came back through.

On the way to Ignis’s house, Gladio pulled out his phone and called someone. Cam noticed his voice was softer as he spoke to the person on the other line. “Hey, Iris. I’m in the city, you want to meet up with us for dinner?….Awesome, yeah that’s the place, we’ll meet you in a few.”

Prompto overheard and piped up. “Iris is joining us?”

“Yeah,” Gladio replied with a serene smile. “Be good to see her again.”

Must be family, Cam thought. Steph would murder anyone else who came near him.

They passed the old market square location and Gladio noticed Cam looking on from the distance, a mixed expression of melancholy and bittersweet thoughts. He felt for her, or at least something made him feel for her. It was as if a switch flicked and he could detect the anguish in her mind. Strange. Invasive.

A short ways onwards and they reached a set of separate houses, Gladio leading the way towards a specific one from the group, one with a white exterior and blue door. He guided Ignis to the proper one, knocked, and waited.

Moments later a stunning young woman answered the door, a small toddler seated in her arms. His eyes lit up instantly. “Dadda!”

“Ah, Lucas.” Ignis set his cane down and his wife and son pulled him into a tight hug, the innocent lilting of the child’s laughter and joy at seeing his father again warming Cam’s steeled heart. She’d wanted children someday, and had shit not hit the proverbial fan she might have gone through with it, but Nolan declared he could never bring a child into a broken world, and so they gave up on that lifelong dream of hers.

Gladio felt a wash of heartache without reason, followed by a muscle spasm at his hip. Automatically he looked up at Cam and noticed a second too late that she had tears in her eyes. She turned away, furiously wiping her eyes and trying not to draw attention to herself, pacing off to the side. Was it possible they’d synced up so well that their emotions were affected by each other?

 _No,_ he thought. _Not possible._

“Cam?” Ignis called out behind him.

Cam shook her head, forcing a smile on her face as she approached the Scientia family. “Yes?”

“I’d like to introduce you to my wife, the love of my life, mother of my so-”

“Okay, okay,” Raine interjected, chuckling lightly. “Name’s Raine, pleased to meet you. Cam, right?”

Cam nodded. “Short for Camellia. My parents weren’t very creative with names so my mother just picked her favourite flower. I hate it.” She felt several eyes on her. “Just call me Cam.”

 _Pretty name,_ Gladio thought.

Raine helped Ignis inside and turned back to the group of hunters. “Thanks for dropping my husband off, it’s impossible to get out of the city these days, obvious reasons.” She eyed down to the small child, who was now clinging to her leg, shyly peeking out every now and then. “I appreciate it.”

“No prob, doll!” Prompto beamed at the woman. “We’ll have to visit for some of those amazing cookies soon.”

They left the Scientia house and headed towards the restaurant, which thankfully still had some free tables. They grabbed one and pulled up an extra seat for their expected guest.

Said guest was approaching them now. “Gladdy!”

Cam whipped her head around towards the voice. A young girl in her later teens but still very small, with cocoa hair that dusted her shoulders. She could tell a definite relation to Gladio, had to be his sister.

Her suspicions were short-lived. “Iris, Cam. Cam, Iris, my little sister,” Gladio introduced them.

Iris’s eyes widened. “You two look so alike!”

Cam’s face scrunched up. “I beg your pardon?”

“Your faces,” she wagged a finger up and down over her left eye. “You match.”

Gladio chuckled. “Yeah, she thought mine was cool so she got on-” A well earned smack to the bicep from Cam cut him off.

They ordered food and chatted about this and that. Iris had taken up a job at the clinic there, learning first aid from a retired doctor. She stayed with some members of the Crownsguard, but was getting bored of her day-to-day. “I feel like I’m helping out, sure,” she clinked ice around in her empty glass with a straw, “but I don’t feel like I’m really doing anything, like I could be doing more.”

Gladio tensed, giving Iris a look of warning. Apparently this was a topic of  previous conversations, because he replied simply with, “No.”

“Come on, Gladdy,” Iris groaned, setting her glass down with a clank. “I’m not a child anymore and there are hunters out there younger than me, and I’m seventeen!” She pursed her lips into a hard line. “I thought if you would train me I’d learn from the best, and you’d trust me more.”

The table settled in awkward silence, Greyson texting on his phone and Prompto looking around, anywhere but towards them. Cam picked at a fingernail, trying to drown it out, but she felt…rage? Why would-

“No means no, Iris. End of discussion.”

Iris growled. “You aren’t the boss of me!”

_SLAM!_

All eyes turned to Cam, who’d brought her fist down on the table so hard that the plates bounced and clattered. Cam’s eyes widened, her hand stinging from the impact. “Uhhh, Cam?” Prompto whimpered.

Cam scanned their faces, all in different degrees of confusion and shock. Gladio, however, looked…afraid.

“Um,” Cam stuttered, “S-sorry about that, not sure what came over me there…”

When they paid their bill and headed down to the truck to take off back to HQ, bidding Iris a strained goodbye on the way, Gladio fell into step with Cam. “What the hell was that all about back there?”

Cam sighed. “I-I don’t know, okay? I just, felt really mad for no reason at all. I don’t even remember doing it…”

His voice softened, and he stopped her in her tracks, “I’m not… great with talking. But, if something’s bothering you, talk my ear off. I insist.”

This was new. “Oh, um…” Cam wasn’t certain how to proceed, mixed emotions in his eyes. She leaned to the side, crossing her arms. “I’m okay, I think…”

Gladio sighed. “Y’aint invincible, Cam. Thought I taught you that already.”

“I know,” she replied, keeping eye contact, the sun flaring at her side. “I guess…if anything, it’s seeing everyone’s families.” Feeling her eyes sting, she shut them to prevent tears from spilling over. It was no use; they fell from her cheeks and onto her collarbone. “I-I just, I just-”

Without another word Gladio wrapped Cam in a hug that surrounded her, completed her, heat enveloping her body and soul. He had a jacket on and Cam slid her hands around his back beneath it, holding him as if her life depended on it. In some way, it did; he gave her a life worth living, the strength to survive in this wasteland, light where there was none.

A sun when the sky was black.

Cam felt his chin rest on top of her head and a hand brush the loose hair that fell from her ponytail behind her ear. “Cam, I-”

“We need a mechanic.”

Cam pulled away from Gladio at the sound of Greyson’s voice. “Truck’s toast. Transmission’s about to give out, and the radiator is overheating and I haven’t even taken it out of park yet.”

“Shit,” Cam breathed. “Any around town?”

Prompto joined the group, panting from running up the flight of stairs. “Cindy’s in Hammerhead for the night, just texted her. She can’t make it in tonight.”

The group looked around, uncertain what to do next. Even if they called someone to pick them up, they couldn’t just leave the goods there, and the other supply truck they had would need at least three trips to get everything.

A sign caught Cam’s attention. “Say we book a night at the Leville and get the truck looked at tomorrow.” She checked her phone. “It’s already seven-thirty.”

“Not a bad idea,” Greyson replied, turning to Prompto. “Have Cindy meet us in the morning. I’ll call Dave and tell him what’s up.”

 

 

They were lucky to get a room in the first place. The single bed, starter suite was not suited for four adults, the queen sized bed and sofa the only means for sleeping. Cam flat-out refused the bed, recalling the stiff mattress that murdered her back during her stay there. She called dibs on the sofa instead, and Greyson and Prompto joked about sharing the bed. Gladio took the floor between the two options, the hotel staff kind enough to offer extra pillows.

Prompto was flipping through the channels on the television, the same re-running broadcasts and played-out shows on screen. Greyson was turned over, out already.

Cam laid on her back scrolling through her gallery in her phone, far passed the daemon bounty kills. She found a set of photos from her stay in Galdin Quay with Nolan, back when the sun was still around. Vibrant pastels and sharp hues of red, pink and purples blotted the sunsetting horizon, breathtaking. Alive.

Cam missed color.

“Nice view,” Gladio croaked from the floor below her.

Cam scoffed. “Rude to look at someone’s phone without permission.”

“Sorry, just…” He sighed. “I miss it, too. Fucking darkness is getting to me.”

“Same.”

Cam flicked to the next picture, a selfie with Nolan and her. She tried to go to the next one, but he’d already seen it.

“D’you miss him?”

Cam swallowed, hard. “Sometimes.”

“Sorry.”

“You’re saying sorry too much, stop it.” Cam looked down at him, giving him a jestful warning look.

He blinked up at her. “…sorry.”

Cam rolled her eyes. “You’re terrible.”

Prompto turned the TV off, the only light in the room spilling in from the bathroom, a strange orangish wash from the sconce painted everything in a warm hue. He tucked under the covers and adjusted his pillow. “Night, guys.”

“Night,” Cam and Gladio said in unison.

The room was so quiet it made Cam’s ears hum. She looked down at Gladio again; he was staring at the ceiling. “What are you thinking about?” she murmured, low enough that the other boys couldn’t hear her.

Gladio exhaled through his nose. “I was thinking about what you said earlier. About…family.” His eyes flicked to hers. “Iris is, the only family I have left. Knowing she wants to learn how to hunt? It’s…not easy.” He rested his hands behind his head. “I can’t control her, either. Eventually she’ll do what she wants either way. But…dammit. She’s all I got, so…”

Cam could detect his internal struggle, because she began to feel it as well. “Look, you’re right. She will someday do as she wants, and you won’t be able to stop her.” Cam rolled over onto her side to face him. “The best thing you can do at that point is support her. You’re… all she has. And, what she needs is you to back her up.”

He considered her words before letting out a long sigh. “You’re right. I hate it, but you’re right.”

Cam checked her phone. “Okay, we need to get some sleep.”

“Right.”

She pocketed her phone, adjusted her pillow and laid on her back. “Night, Gladio.”

“Night, Cam.”

 

Gladio stirred several hours into the night. He repositioned himself, the pillows beneath him bunching up awkwardly so. Once comfortable he set in to go back to sleep. But not before catching a glimpse of Cam, lost in a dream, her face relaxed and almost childlike.

Her hand was dangling off the side of the sofa.

Why he did what he did next, he’d never know, but he gently slid his hand underneath hers, their fingers interlacing.

Gladio’s hip ignited, but it didn’t bring pain; the warmth that radiated at his side was like sun shining on his skin…something he’d missed for so long. Something he’d trade a thousand days of night for, for this single day of light…

His heart swelled, her touch bringing him a comfort nobody, no woman, had ever made him feel. The calmness spread throughout his fingertips to every inch of his body, sleep claiming him without hesitation, a small smile on his lips.

Cam’s eyes opened, well aware of Gladio’s hand in hers.

She flexed her fingers and held onto him through the night, hoping he’d never let her go.


	11. Hell Spawn

Cindy turned up first thing as promised and had the truck in working condition by ten. The bill was hefty, but she graciously accepted two hundred gil and an I-owe-you. Back in business, the group of four departed Lestallum, en route to HQ.

Greyson had just eased off the gas, heading into the winding turns before the tunnel when they saw it.

Or at least it’s silhouette in the mist, which in comparison seemed all the more frightening.

A colossal, quadruped beast prowled along the outskirts of the forest treeline, two impressive horns protruding from its corrupt, catlike head. Fangs the size of full-grown men glinted in the truck’s headlights. Incandescent yellow eyes glowed faintly in the darkness.

_“Behemoth.”_

Gladio answered Cam’s question before she asked it. “But that, is not normal sized.”

“W-what the damn hell?!” Prompto cried and whipped his head around the driver’s side headrest, lilac eyes like saucers. “Holy crap, that thing is massive!”

“They aren’t normally that big?” Cam asked, unable to take her eyes off the monster. She’d heard multiple accounts of them before from both Nolan and other hunters, but had never seen a live one before now.

Greyson came to a crawling speed to get a better look. “Fuck…Gotta be what, double-no, triple the size of a normal one?”

“‘Bout that,” Gladio was affixed to it, lips parted in awe. “Get the Marshal on the phone, things close enough to HQ for comfort.”

While Prompto dialed Cor, the truck curved around a turn that brought the vehicle closer to the beast. The ground shook with it’s steps. Cam gulped. Where the hell had it come from?

“Yeah, biggest one we’ve ever seen!” Prompto craned his head to the side to keep an eye on it. “…No even bigger than that one, that was a shrimp compared to-”

In a movement that sent shivers up their spines, the behemoth’s head snapped towards them. It crouched, licked its chops, then leaped in their direction.

_“FUCK!”_ Cam and Gladio said in unison.

“Oh you’ve got to be KIDDING ME,” Greyson cried flooring the accelerator, the tires screeching against the pavement as the truck jarred forward, gaining momentum at a much slower pace than they’d wished for. “She can’t take this kinda stress, full load and all these RPMS? Gonna blow the engine!”

The behemoth was almost in full gallop, eyes locked on it’s target, trees swaying at the tremors, its giant paws raking up patches of dead turf and sod.

“We don’t have a choice!” Cam tried to keep her voice normal but the anxiousness in her tone was apparent. “At least make it to the tunnel, I don’t think it will fit through…”

Gladio grabbed the phone from Prompto, who’d gone silent from shock. “Marshal, we got a problem. Thing’s on our tails,” he paused to grab the frame of the truck, Greyson careening it around a turn so fast the passenger’s side front tire left pavement, “might follow us back to HQ, let the others know we’re gonna need backup and a fuckton of firepower.”

He waited for Cor’s response, gave an “Okay,” and hung up. “They’re readying for a fight. Spearguns are being pulled from storage.”

“Christ,” Greyson coughed. “Okay! There’s the tunnel. Almost there-”

The engine went dead, an empty whirring sound as the rotations slowed.

“NO NO NO NO DAMMIT _FUCK-”_ He cranked the ignition but only the strained torquing sound whined through. The truck was slowing down, the pounding of the ground getting more violent by the second.

Cam had her hand on the door handle, stuck trying to decide whether or not to abandon ship when Gladio grabbed her arm. “Don’t even think about it,” He growled. “You jump out that thing will trample you. At least in here you have a chance.”

Her hand fell from the latch, her savior spoken. Words unsaid seemed to transmit between them, Gladio’s hand still holding onto her arm, his expression a combination of fear and uncertainty. The windshield and windows of the truck vibrated from the behemoth’s canter, the truck coasting along at a gradually reducing speed. The tunnel was straight ahead. They may make it, with a little luck…

Instead of attacking the vehicle, the behemoth did something entirely unexpected. Mere yards from the back hatch, it leaped through the air up and over the truck all together, landing on top of the tunnel above.

The ground shook hard from the impact, the truck still puttering along, Greyson pumping the gas and turning the key over and over. Eventually nothing would give and it rolled to a complete stop, several dozen feet into the tunnel.

The headlights died and the four of them delved into complete darkness.

Above them the tunnel rocked from the behemoth’s footsteps, bits of rock and debris from the walls raining down on the roof of the truck. Everyone exhaled a sigh of relief.

Greyson turned on his phone’s flashlight. “Gonna pop the hood, Cindy said this could happen and showed me a few tricks.”

He got out and rounded the front, the tremors dying down. “That thing’s heading straight for HQ…” Prompto trailed off,

Gladio pulled out his phone and made a call to the Marshal. “Got a problem. Thing’s definitely heading for HQ. It’s jumped the tunnel.”

It was so quiet Cam could hear Cor on the other end: _“Where are you?”_

“Stuck in the tunnel. Truck’s toast.”

“Let’s not say that just yet,” Greyson had hopped back in the driver’s seat, tried the ignition, nothing. Tried a second time and the truck groaned and heaved, before finally revving up and the engine was back to life. “Alright, good to go,” he announced, flinging his seatbelt on.

“Damn Greyson, got the magic touch man,” Prompto cheered, buckling in as well. The truck took off as fast as Greyson could get the engine to perform, thankfully passing the strongest rumbles from overhead. The behemoth was behind them, and it seemed to have slowed down, perhaps uncertain what to do next. Either that, or it was waiting for them to reappear.

The light at the end of the tunnel started to grey out the darkness, and when they pulled up into the entrance of the headquarters Cam gasped.

Six giant spearguns, each the size of railcars with three on each side of the road were rolled up on carts that looked almost medieval in construction. They were angled up towards the spaces in between the rock shelf above, poised to deal death from below. “Cor doesn’t fuck around when shit hits the fan, does he?” Cam muttered, already unbuckling.

Greyson pulled the truck behind the armory and the four of them got out, joining the group of hunters near the spearguns. Dave was assigning people to man them while another group was getting the rundown on how to reload it. Cor greeted the group as they approached. “One of the snipers spotted it, approximately a mile away give or take.”

“Can we take it out with just these?” Greyson motioned to the weapons craning overhead.

The Marshal frowned. “Hard to say, a behemoth this size hasn’t been on record yet.” He crossed his arms. “Just have to give it what we can, no room for error. If you have the opportunity to strike, seize it.”

“Got it,” Gladio nodded, before turning to Cam. “Let’s keep off-”

Steph slammed into Gladio from behind, her ivory arms attempting to wrap around his bulky form. “Gladdy, where the hell have you been?”

Cam backed away, her soulmate marking almost repelling from the red haired vixen. Steph threw her a look of contempt, her icy eyes narrowing. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

Cam smirked. “Right here.”

Gladio was thankful Steph couldn’t see the massive grin that pulled his lips at her response. “We had to stay at the Leville, truck broke down.”

“You could’ve texted me at least.” Again her eyes shot towards Cam. “I was…worried.”

Gladio shrugged out of her hold, sighing. “Look, we’ll talk about it later, now’s definitely not the time-”

On que, the ground shook below their feet. The hunters manning the spearguns tensed, lining up the weapons in anticipation.

“Fine, whatever.” Steph blew him off, stalking away to some place Cam could care less about. Though it did color her curious that Gladio hadn’t contacted her at all to tell her of their holdup…

Over a hand radio, someone buzzed through to Dave. _“In our sights, four-hundred yards.”_ A pause, then: _“It’s sprinting!”_

The beast was heading for them, and fast. Cam and Gladio joined the front line, weapons at the ready. The ground made Cam’s knees jut and almost give out from underneath her, but she squatted slightly to counter the shakes. As the earth quaking grew stronger the racks of weapons at the nearby vendor toppled over, clanging loudly as they spilled. Overhead, the nearby rock shelf groaned, dust and pebbles falling free.

“THERE!” one of the gunners up top shouted, and everyone tensed. Then…

It slowed, taking calculated steps towards the edge of the tunnel roof. Cam could see the tips of its horns; goosebumps pocked her skin.

The moment she caught sight of its glowing yellow eyes, the Marshal gave the command; “Fire!”

Six torpedoing spears shot skywards, arcing perfectly over the crest of the tunnel and striking their mark, the behemoth recoiling and letting out a pained roar that popped Cam’s eardrums. The gunners up top fired automatic weapons at it, red dots blossoming on it’s musclebound flesh. The beast swiped at them, trying to reach them from their positions nearby.

The spearguns were locked and loaded for another round and they awaited Cor’s orders. A pause, then “Fire!”

The spears cut through the air with lethal grace, though one of them missed their target and veered off bouncing on the rock wall. The beast was staggering, but there was life still in its fierce eyes…

Cam had to take action; a surge of adrenaline at the sight of the beast’s blood fired her up. She sprinted towards the rock wall, uncertain if her idea would actually bear fruit, but then her hand caught a ledge that held her weight and right above it, another jagged piece for her to pull up onto.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Dave yelled.

Cam pulled up to another edge, her foot finding a landing, one after the other as if she were a born climber though she hadn’t scaled rock walls a moment in her life…

She made it three-quarters the way up when she caught sight of someone below her. Gladio. “You’re fucking insane, I hope you know that!” He yelled up at her, pulling himself up the shelf.

“You’re the one following me!” Cam shouted, just as her hands gripped the upper ledge, hoisting herself up and over.

The beast was at best twenty yards away from her. Cam held her breath, backing away from the ledge so Gladio could climb up. He summoned his greatsword, panting. “What kind of plan do you have in mind exactly?”

Cam unsheathed her swords. “We need to disable it. I’m thinking the eyes. If it can’t see us, it’s as good as dead.”

Gladio scoffed at her. “How the hell are we going to pull that off?!”

The behemoth sniffed the air, it’s pained groans like thunder around them. Catching wind of something, it’s head snapped in their direction, the two of them in it’s sights, locked on. They would be an easy kill.

Cam stared back into the eyes of the beast.

“Watch me.”


	12. Steel on Steel

Death itself manifested in the form of the behemoth before her, yellow eyes with slit pupils, watching, waiting. The creature was well aware that it could swipe them off the ledge at any given moment, but humans had never voluntarily come this close to the beast, and so some inept part of it’s curiosity was piqued. It hesitated, hot breath rolling from its slobbering chops like a heat wave.

Cam took it as her opportunity, the only one she’d get. She inhaled, exhaled. Gladio eyed back and forth between Cam and the behemoth, uncertain which one looked more menacing in that moment. Before he could stop her, she was gone.

She sprinted towards its hind quarters and the beast reared up, raising a paw that would otherwise easily flatten a person had its razor talons not gored them beforehand. As it countered itself she slid to the side and swiped her blades at it’s ankle, ribbons of flayed flesh wet and steaming.

The behemoth roared from the attack and buckled down. That very second, three spears pierced it’s right flank and it all but forgot about Cam, leaning forward to attack those below.

“Distract it!” Cam hollered to Gladio, who was looking for an opening.

He animated at her words, reeling back for an overhead swing against the fleshy part of the monster’s undercarriage. His sword grazed it’s ribs and the bellows that rocked it’s frame made the ground vibrate.

Sheathing her weapons, Cam reached for part of the behemoth’s mane and grabbed fistfuls of wiry hair, wrapping them around her hands and forearms to lock in and she swung in tandem with its anguished thrashes. As it slowed she climbed up until she was saddled on the apex of it’s neck. Every muscle in her body screamed from the exertion of pulling her body weight, but she ducked low to the creature’s form, catching her breath before her next move.

“CAM!” Gladio yelled from below. “They’re firing again!”

No time to waste. With one hand knotted in the behemoth’s mane, Cam drew a sword, swung her body forward towards its face and buried her blade to the hilt in its right eye.

As expected the beast howled in agony as it’s head whipped to the side, hot blood flowing from the wound and coated Cam’s arm as she withdrew her weapon from its paydirt. She sheathed it again, another fistful of mane to keep her hanging on.

“WOOOO,” Cam could hear someone shouting from below, though uncertain as to whom it was. Four spears struck the behemoth square in the chest, but two bounced off and clattered against the shelf.

Cam held her breath and swung her lower half up and around it’s neck again, saddled and ready to go for round two. She waited for it’s movements to quell, Gladio dancing circles around the monster, his blade glinting and catching the little light there was as he swiped and slashed its lower half with deathly grace.

“OUT OF AMMO,” someone called from beneath them.

The time was nigh to down this fucker.

Readying herself, Cam jostled to the opposite side and freed a hand from the mane, drew a sword and lurched forward to obliterate the behemoth’s left eye as well. A sickening explosion of gore and blood rewarded her as the eye caved in.

The behemoth’s enraged thrashing became too much for Cam to withstand. It threw its head sideways and her grip slipped from the mane and her body rag-dolled through the air.

_“CAM!”_

Gladio watched in terror as she was flung several feet, hitting the shelf hard.

Rage exploded within his brain, everything tinted red in his ignited fury. He grit his teeth and charged the beast headlong, throwing caution to the wind and launching himself skywards, his blade perfectly vertical to it’s chest. He struck skin at the bottom of it’s jaw, letting his body weight do the rest as he slit it’s front from nape to gut in a fatal coup de grâce, drenching him in a shower of blood.

The beast staggered to the side, a low growl emitting from its throat before it fell on it’s side, the shelf rocking from the deadweight drop. It stayed down.

Countless cheers from below echoed up as their victory resounded. Gladio wasn’t ready to start celebrating yet. He turned back to where he saw Cam land, but she wasn’t there.

Where did-

“That was _insane!”_

Cam slammed into Gladio from behind, hugging his shoulders tightly and grinning like an idiot, her feet lifted off the ground. Though they were both drenched from head to boots in blood and sweat, he couldn’t care. Gladio swivelled around and whisked her into a rib-crushing embrace, the smile on his face crinkling his eyes. “Yeah, yeah it was,” he breathed.

He released her and her face softened, the last remnants of his rage-high melting the moment her amber gaze found his. Stray curls whipped around her face, some plastered to her damp skin. He’d once thought her as plain looking, ordinary; now, standing before this goddess of death and fire, seeing the thrill of the fight in her eyes, he’d realized how _terribly wrong_ he was.

There was something, a spot of blood perhaps, on her bottom lip. He wanted so badly to press his thumb to it, feel her flesh give under his touch, and wipe it away….

But he couldn’t. He wasn’t exactly hers to have.

He had to change that; The stars were screaming at him to.

“We should uhh,” Gladio averted his eyes, trying to find something else to focus on besides his draw to her, “we should head down.”

Cam backed away, understanding. “Right, after you.”

They were careful to climb backwards down the shelf, people shouting that they could catch them but not trusting their offers. Once on solid ground again, people congratulated and thanked them for the show. Prompto slung and arm around Cam’s shoulders and gave Gladio a fist bump. “That was nuts!” he cried, before Greyson was tackling Cam with a suffocating hug of his own.

“I feel so alive!” Cam replied, “like, I need to swing a sword at someone. Any takers?”

Several hunters took a step back. “After that show?” one of them piped up. “No thanks, I’d like to live.”

She couldn’t control it, like her blood was gasoline and her heart a furnace. She’d no sooner grab whatever hunt caught her eye-

Bingo.

Cor was walking in the opposite direction towards Dave and a group of seasoned hunters. A ludicrous idea blossomed in her adrenaline intoxicated mind. “Hey, Marshal!”

He stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to face her, his mouth pressed in a hard line. He didn’t seem amused. “Quite the feat you pulled off there, Reynolds. A careless feat, but a feat nonetheless.”

“Thank you,” Cam breathed. Her skin was on fire. “may I make a request, sir?”

His eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”

“Fight me.”

Dozens of eyes widened around her, gasps of shock and ‘what the fuck’s abound. Cam could make out Prompto mumbling that she was insane, that no one had bested the Marshal.

 _Until tonight,_ she thought.

“Beg your pardon?” Cor responded, head tilted to the side almost condescendingly.

Cam reached back and tapped the hilt of one of her swords. “I’d like to request a duel, with you.”

The expression on the Marshal’s face was hard to decipher, a mix of pity and…entertainment? He was silent for a long while, but then…

“I don’t see what you seek to accomplish, but fine.”

And then his katana was drawn and Cam sobered up in seconds flat, but she was in too deep now to back out; She unsheathed both swords but tossed one to the side, kicking it away with her foot. A handful of ‘oooooh’s broke out in the small crowd that had gathered to watch this shit show go down.

Dueling the Immortal. Cam was delirious. Each of them eyed their opponent up and down, weapons at the ready as they stood several yards apart, awaiting someone to count them off. Greyson came between them and gave the hand signal to countdown, three, two, one….

The dance begun with calculated steps, each of them keeping a fair distance, their bodies poised to strike at a moment’s notice. Cam demanded Cor’s eye contact, ancient blue steel daring to stare back at her and she couldn’t help but wonder what he saw because his expression faltered, as if someone startled him. It renewed her confidence and she narrowed her eyes; he did the same.

Cam wondered if he would strike first; she’d decided to hold back, see if he would take the lead, sway the outcome. She gripped her single sword with both hands, the singularity strange as she’d honed her skillset with two. She held the blade away from her body, inviting him in, making her vulnerable; this was deliberate, a method to the madness.

The Marshal took the bait. In a fleeting motion, he flicked his katana to the side and up, but Cam was quick to counter the attack with matched speed and reflex, three loud _clang clang clang’s_ piercing the tense quiet.

Cor backed off and Cam was thrilled to see the frown pulling at his mouth; he expected her to miss. Unabashedly her ego was gorging on it. Feeling brave and catching the wave, she leaped forward and swiped at him.

His reflexes were something to marvel, his blade meeting hers before the motion crested, predicting her next move. _Clang clang_ , steel on steel and Cam’s nerves were alight. She hopped back, shaking her shoulders out as waves of energy rolled off her. Whatever well she was drawing this fire from, she’d hoped it wouldn’t run dry anytime soon.

Again he exchanged licks of his razor sharp edge against hers, this time with increased vigor; he’d gone easy on her to start. Such a gentleman. Cam’s heartbeat picked up the pace as his attacks became much more unpredictable and the _speed,_ Gods of Eos he was nimble for his age. Fighting Gladio took all of Cam’s physical energy to keep up; Cor, on the other hand, drained her brain. She’d plot his next move and he’d surprise her, throwing her completely off guard and taking the upper hand, her blade ricocheting off his in the nick of time. The give and take but he was taking a lot out of her, leaving her with little to give.

They continued their exchange of attack and counter, bait and switch until Cor hooked his blade through the space between Cam’s weapon and her, his wrist flicking and her weapon launching skywards. Gasps erupted from the crowd as they backed up, keeping out of harm’s way.

Cam, however, stood directly below it, waiting for it to come back down to earth. It somersaulted up, flipping hilt over point and slicing through the air, before beginning it’s descent. A tiny part of her self perseverance screamed at her to move, lest she be impaled or injured by her own weapon.

She told the voice to shut the hell up, her hand grabbing the blade exactly at the hilt. In the same continuous motion, she whipped the edge at Cor’s katana.

He didn’t expect it. His blade flung from his hands and clattered against the pavement.

A moment of shocked silence passed as reality of the situation set in. When it had, their reactions were in awe. “Are you fucking KIDDING me?!” “No way, no way man!” “That just happened, _holy shit that just happened.”_

Cam stood frozen in place, her breathing ragged. The Immortal himself stared back at her, uncertain what to say in that second, but a dignified smirk settled on his lips and he nodded at her.

Prompto leaped on Cam before she had completely come to terms with the feat she’d just accomplished. She noticed then he was on the phone with someone. “DUDE! SHE DISARMED THE MARSHAL! I saw it, Iggy, I saw it and so did everyone else OH MY GOD YOU MISSED THIS??”

Greyson was clapping as he approached Cam. “Six be damned, Cam. If Nolan could see you now he’d be hollering!”

It was bittersweet of him to say, but she nodded at him and turned to the Marshal once more. “So, do I get a raise or something?”

Cor’s brow knitted together, his lined forehead in creases. “Hm, guess you’ve given me something to consider, Reynolds.” He hesitated before crouching to retrieve his weapon, returning it to it’s sheath. “Your capabilities are…remarkable.”

“Thank you, sir.”

He left them and the crowd rejoined to cheer her once again, exclaiming how they need a round or two at the bar to celebrate both their victory over the behemoth kill and the Duel of the Darkness, as it were already being dubbed.

Gladio was in the group, giving her a motion to join them. She smiled back at him, but said she needed to wash and change first. The blood in her boots was gumming up. Disgusting…

Unmistakeable red caught Cam’s eye before she could make for the showers. It was slinking along with one of the younger recruits trailing close behind, leading them into the shadows. Behind the armory, to be more specific.

Curiosity bested Cam and she shrunk away from the group, sticking to the side of the nearby building to avoid detection. She wasn’t the stealthiest, but she crouched low and proceeded without drawing attention to herself.

The back door was open a crack, a sliver of light escaping through. Cam shuffled over and heard movement from the other side. She held her breath and leaned in to peek inside. Her jaw dropped.

Steph was seated atop a counter, receiving the fuck of a lifetime from the initiate.


	13. Synch

She had to tell him.

Or show him, for that matter. Cam whipped back against the side of the building, pulled out her phone and opened the camera, sticking only the lens passed the door frame and snapped multiple shots. She checked to see they were in focus, cringing at how clear they turned out before she tiptoed around the building and headed for the showers.

Her mind was a flurry of activity though she’d hoped for a moment’s relaxation under the hot stream of water. A malicious part of her was ecstatic to have such incriminating evidence against Steph, almost thrilled at the opportunity to take her down a peg. One part of her within reason knew it was wrong to interfere, that it wasn’t her place to break the two of them up. Was there a guideline, or a set of rules to follow when the person of interest was your soulmate? Should one just approach them, lift their shirt up to reveal the exact same sized, shaped, pigmented and placed marking as they did? What was the protocol on that?

…What was the protocol when you were basically a widow…

Perhaps she’d request chatting with Ignis on the matter, ‘for a friend,’ of course. Last thing she needed was Gladio finding out and making everything awkward between them…

 

 

He had to tell her.

Peeling the last strip of paper label from his beer bottle, eyes strained from the low lighting of the bar, Gladio weighed the options at hand. Telling Cam he knew she was his soulmate would involve breaking things off with Steph…

Or would it? He’d been going about this all wrong, acting on the pretense that telling her they were soulmates somehow guaranteed her love and affection. He frowned. Just the idea of being turned down by Cam was like a jab to the ribs. Their time spent together was about to wind down, this he knew; her training had wrapped up much, much sooner than he’d anticipated, almost to the point his pride took a hit, so their daily excursions for sparring would be no more…Fuck, she was a quick learner….

“Dude, you look like you’re thinking way too hard for a Friday night,” Prompto quipped, downing the rest of his beer and wiping the head foam from his lips. “Darts?”

Gladio waved him off without looking up. “I’ll pass. I uhh, need to think about some things.”

“Like?”

“Stuff.”

“Come on, man,” Prompto sat back down in the booth. “Talk to me. Something’s been bothering you lately. I know it, Iggy knows it.” He leaned back and relaxed his head against his hands. “You and Steph on the rocks?”

Hesitantly, Gladio raised his head. “How’d you know?”

“Well for one thing you spend every waking moment with Cam,” Prompto started counting things off with his fingers as he went on, “You really only talk about her or what you guys killed that day. Let’s see…Oh! And you’re always looking at Cam, too. The only time I ever see you around Steph anymore is when you’re leaving the barracks together or after she’s finished giving you a quickie behind the clinic.” He shuddered at the memory of Gladio caught zipping his fly, Steph trailing behind wiping a thumb against her irritated lips. “You guys used to be inseparable.”

“Yeah, well, she has to actually _be around_ in the first place,” Gladio’s voice carried a curt tone. All the while they’d dated she would go off and ‘do her thing’ for a while, though said while often stretched over several days at a time, and when she returned she’d speak barely a sentence or two about it. Though something he’d known early on in their relationship, her absences were becoming much more frequent, and for longer durations of time. She never missed him, or at least she never said so whenever she returned. She’d scratch his itch that night then sleep facing the opposite direction. It was enough to create a chink in even the most weathered of armors.

It was a no brainer.

Gladio pulled out his phone, cycled through his contacts until he found his soulmate’s name, and typed a quick message. His sun flared up in all the right ways as he hit ‘Send’.

 

 

_Hey, I know it’s late and it’s been a crazy day, but are you free tonight? Got something I need to tell you. We can meet at our usual spot. Let me know._

Steph glowered at the message, poised to biff the cellphone against the locker room wall but she exhaled hard, cooling her jets. Without hesitation she deleted the message, before opening the gallery folder and deleting the last eight photos taken, removing the evidence. She’d known Cam would follow her little breadcrumb trail and take the bait like a starving guppy. Everything was falling into place.

She placed the phone back the way she found it and left the locker room before the owner of it spotted her.

 

 

Cam scrunched her hair with a towel as she dried off, contemplating how best to go about spilling the beans to Gladio. It was practically eating at her, gnawing at the bit. Was now a better time than later? Probably not; still, there was no harm in trying. They could chat over a drink; lord knows she could use one right now…

She got dressed in clean casual clothes, happy to be out of her spent armor for the evening and dropped her things off at her bunk.

Gladio wasn’t at the bar. Neither were Prompto or Greyson, or anyone worthwhile for that matter. She ducked back outside and scanned the area for familiar faces, pulling the sleeves of her hoodie down with the chill in the evening air. Regardless she’d thought it was a good night to go for a drive at least, some quiet time before tomorrow when they’d have to figure out how to go about disposing the massive behemoth corpse overlooking HQ.

Wherever he was, Cam decided to leave an offer open to meet up with him. If they talked tonight, great; If not tonight, there was always the rest of their lives, right?

She found his number in her phone and sent a short text before fishing Greyson’s spare truck key from her jeans. She called him and let him know she was heading out for a bit with it, just as a fat drop of rain hit her on the forehead.

 

 

_Hey Gladio, swung by the bar but you weren’t around. Thought I’d let you know I’m going for a drive to our spot, near Lestallum where you trained me. If you’re up for a chat, I’ll be there. Hope to see you._

He frowned, confused by the message. Earlier he’d asked her to meet up with him but the phrasing seemed off, as if she didn’t get the memo. Perhaps she didn’t, he concluded as he slid his phone in his back pocket, the scattered raindrops that peppered his leather jacket increasing in size and amount as a downpour started. It was cool against his tired skin and he leaned back against the railing of the overlook, the city of Lesatallum bright and booming as usual.

Steph would need to understand. He’d attempted plotting the conversation between them, how they were already in a bad spot, that he didn’t feel appreciated as a person and only as arm candy or a good lay. A security blanket, almost; someone to just be there whenever you need it, to help you through a difficult time and offer comfort regardless of how they felt. It wasn’t that he didn’t mind supporting her, but what’s the point of a relationship if they’re only going to use you for their own benefit, something to build them up on demand without regard for their wants and needs as a human being…

…Cam…

It took little effort on his part to start thinking of her, nearing second-nature status. How many times had he dreamt of her face, clear as day though he’d seen her just that one time in the market square of Lestallum, two years prior? Or when Ignis was lucky enough to marry the love of his life, assigned to him by the Astrals, how annoying was it for his friend to put up with his side comments about how he ‘should have gone back to her’ or ‘just said hi,’ the sun on his hip always sparking at any given moment that reminded him of her…

 _Two years_ …That mystery soulmate from the marketplace had destroyed him. He didn’t know her name or where she lived. All he knew was her face and her marking.

Steph made for a fantastic distraction, though. Sure at first and for the most part it had been all about the sex, all about getting _her_ out of his head, because by now she’d be dead or far away from this hellhole. Feelings followed after, but only long after, when he had only Iris; naturally he needed to find someone in the darkness.

Until the sun itself showed up at hunter HQ…

The sound of a car door opening and closing pulled him from his thoughts and he looked over his shoulder. Speak of the devil…

Cam stood just outside the truck, pulling her hood over her head though already fast approaching soaked status. “Hey!” she called to him. “Aren’t you cold?”

Gladio was shellshocked. She was positively shining before him in the darkness, a light no one had ever given off for him. He couldn’t help it; He leaped back over the barrier of the overlook, long strides towards Cam, each one like walking on coals; difficult but the quicker you move the closer you get to the prize at the finish line.

He reached her and she backed against the truck, eyes alive with bewilderment. “H-hi,” she croaked, her pupils flicking from his eyes, his scar, his lips, his eyes-

Gladio rested his forearms against the truck on either side of her head, holding her between them as if protecting the last match in a monsoon. Her name fell from his lips in a breath, before he leaned down and pressed them against hers.

Every nerve ending in Cam’s body singed, licked by flames and captivated her soul in a fire that could brighten all of Lucis had it escaped. Gladio’s mouth was hot with a blaze all his own and the rain only sweetened his essence. Her hands ran up his chest beneath his jacket, smoothing over his pecs to lock together behind his neck, the air coming and going in her lungs at a ragged pace. He was messed up as well; the slightest quiver in his bottom lip, which Cam eased with a gentle roll between her teeth before soothing the action with a gentle suck. An airy groan escaped his throat; she almost fainted.

Though the truck exterior was cold and already soaking her backside Cam braced herself against it, lost in Gladio’s world and desperate to deny rescue. Not like he’d let her leave anyhow; When she’d pull back to end the kiss, telling him she needed to show him something, he’d mumble against her mouth “it can wait,” his hands coaxing her back for more. He was fastly becoming the best thing that ever happened to her. That the stars had mapped a course just for them made her smile against his full lips.

As if hearing an unsung praise, his hand ghosted down her side to rest at her hip…right over the sun shaped marking etched in her skin since birth and before.

The sound of Gladio’s phone ringing jolted them from their trances, and he pulled away though Cam could tell he’d no sooner be back on her the moment he was free. He frowned, never taking his eyes off hers as he answered the call. “What.”

Cam shifted awkwardly as she waited, watching him, calming her pulse to a steady beat. When his eyebrows knit, she offered him a puzzled look.

“I’ll head back as soon as possible.”

He hung up the phone, confusion muddling his previously intense expression as he slid it in his pocket. “We uhh,” he began, looking at the ground, “We need to get back to HQ. Something’s happened. Dave wants to speak with you.”


	14. Blame

Cam gripped the steering wheel with damp hands, trailing behind Gladio’s Jeep on the drive back to HQ. Her entire body was feeling the after effects of their connection, sparks on her skin and her brain going a mile a minute, yet inside her gut she felt ill. Dave wanted to speak with her, and the way Gladio just, looked away from her….What happened?

Her wipers were struggling to keep up with clearing the rain, the downpour coming in sheets and a low rumble of thunder reverberated through the frame of the vehicle. As they entered the first winding turn before the tunnel, Cam could just make out the rough patches of dirt and terrain uplifted from the behemoth, ominous flashbacks rapid firing through her mind. She still couldn’t believe she’d assisted in downing the beast, surprised at how quickly the plan to blind it lightbulbed in her mind. How she managed to pull it off on the other hand, she couldn’t explain.

Sure she’d trained with Gladio and Greyson plenty, but something gnawed at her sense of reason. She’d overheard the hushed whispers of other hunters and veterans, how she was most likely feigning the stroke of greatness persona, coming from nothing and rubbing shoulders with the higher ranks in no time flat. Someone who’d been mediocre at best in physical education throughout high school, someone who hadn’t touched a firearm before several short weeks ago…

As they exited the tunnel and approached HQ territory, Gladio slowed down his Jeep faster than Cam anticipated and she broke hard, though immediately understood the reason for his abrupt halt; a thick puddle of blood was accumulating outside the tunnel, dripping from above where the behemoth corpse was slung by the edge of the rock shelf. An iron tang hit the back of her throat; she could smell it. Great. They’d probably called a meeting to bump priority of getting rid of the body…

They pulled up beside the main office and headed inside, one after the other without another word. It was a full house; Greyson, Prompto and Cor were seated against the far wall, Dave was pacing the room with a look of contempt on his typically relaxed face. Two of the highest ranking hunters nodded to greet them as they entered, while off in the furthest corner Steph stood, fixated on her phone, thumbs tapping the screen at lightning speed.

“Alright, she’s here,” Dave announced and every head in the room rose to look at Cam. She felt microscopic in seconds flat, leaning against the wall opposite the door, Gladio behind her. What did he mean, _‘she’s here’…_

“Got a couple things to go over before the main topic of this meeting,” Dave continued, grabbing a folder from the metal desk and flipping through the paperwork. “That behemoth was no coincidence; infrared readings have doubled since the scout’s last reports from Sunday, only five days ago. We think given that it was headed due northwest when Greyson and Co happened upon it, there’s a high chance it was attracted to the infrared energy being omitted nearby.”

“How are the sightings in the area, boss?” one of the veteran hunters asked, looking over Dave’s shoulder to read the report.

Dave rubbed his forehead. “Rising. Snipers use to only hold two clips of ammo per shift, but recently they’ve been requesting double, and what’s even more concerning is just how close they’re reaching the outskirts of HQ.” He sighed, leaning against a support beam. “Might need to invest in more spotlights-”

“It’s not in the budget,” Steph interjected, all heads whipping in her direction at the back of the room. Her expression was blank. “And you know we can’t work it in as well. I’ve scoured it top to bottom and pinched enough pennies to be certain of that.”

Dave’s eyes flicked to Cam and her gut cramped. “Which brings me to the reason for our meeting. Reynolds?”

Her head snapped up, undivided attention. “Yes?”

“Where were you at approximately 4:35 this afternoon?”

Cam frowned, knitting her dark eyebrows in confusion. “Beg pardon, sir?”

“Answer the question, Reynolds,” Cor’s voice was like a serrated blade across her face.

“I was…” She thought back to it, around that time she was - “in the showers.”

Dave eyed her suspiciously until she shrugged her shoulders. He backed up towards a flat cabinet, sliding the door open to reveal a flat screen TV, a grid of closed-circuit feeds on display in small boxes. He cycled through some views with the remote until he landed on a specific one, enlarging the view, and Cam recognized it as the side wall adjacent to the back entrance of the armory…

She tensed, realizing what everyone was about to witness. Without forethought Cam’s head snapped back to Steph, but she was focused intently on the television, expression indecipherable.

Cam turned back in time to see a pre-recorded version of herself, crouched and sneaking behind the back of the armory. Much to her displeasure however, the angle of the camera only captured the side of the building, not the back, so when Cam’s recorded form ducked behind the armory she was in the blind spot.

She knew what would happen next, how a few seconds later she’d come tiptoeing back the same way she came, pocketing her cell phone…Except, she didn’t. Nearly a minute went by of zero activity on the monitor. There was no way Cam had spent that long behind the armory; She’d followed Steph and the initiate, saw them through the gap in the door, snapped some pics, and left. The entire series of events may have taken twenty seconds at best…

Also, why hadn’t they shown…”Dave,” Cam interrupted their viewing and he paused playback, “Can you rewind to a few seconds before I show up on screen?”

Wordlessly, he fulfilled her request and hit play about a minute before Cam’s appearance. Nothing, and then…Cam sneaking into view.

What the hell? “Okay, something’s not right-”

“Why’d you break into the armory, Reynolds?” Dave’s voice was firm and low, avoiding eye contact; authoritative, but lacking confidence.

Cam stepped away from the wall, taking a few strides forward. “That footage is all wrong, I-I didn’t go back there of my own volition.”

“Then explain,” Cor rose from his seat, pacing around to Cam, “what sent you back there in the first place.”

“I-I saw-”

_Steph’s arms flung around the initiate’s neck, the cream and roses of her bare breasts jostling with his thrusts as he pistioned in and out of her, his bare ass flexing with the push of his hips. Their labored breathing with the speed of their fucking-_

“…something.”

Her mouth dropped a fraction, nerves getting the better of her composure. She dared a glance at Steph, who to Cam’s surprise remained the pinnacle of ease, twirling a lock of crimson hair between long, slender fingers.

It drove Cam insane. She either didn’t know, or didn’t care that she was about to be exposed. She was hyper-aware of Gladio standing barely two feet behind her. _Alright then,_ she thought to herself, pulling out her phone. “Look, I have proof that I…wasn’t alone. Just let me find-”

The pictures of Steph weren’t showing up in her gallery. They were gone.

“Wait, what the hell?” She tried with trembling hands to close the application and reopen it, hoping with despair that it was…Nope, not a glitch. The photos had disappeared.

Cam’s heart hit the back of her throat and double-timed as she caught a glimpse of Steph standing in the back of the room, one corner of her mouth barely turned up into a snide smirk.

Something happened to Cam then, that she never experienced before in twenty five years of life. For two  seconds of unwarranted eternity, her vision tinted red. Undiluted fury in its purest form.

Anger, absolute.

Behind her Gladio took a step back, startled and uncertain as to how he just _felt that._

Cam regained her sobriety, sighing. “I had pictures on my phone, however it seems they’ve been deleted.” She gritted her teeth. The bitch must have taken her phone while she was in the shower-

“Well unfortunately, Reynolds,” The Marshal was holding back his full potential for a raised voice, “the entirety of gil in the retain cash was just stolen, approximately two grand in total.” He stopped in front of Cam, his head cocked to the side. “Until otherwise proven innocent, I have no choice but to suspend you from active hunter status. Had we not been in dire need of personnel we’d be having a different conversation altogether. Turn in your weapons tonight, we’ll get you started on a job tomorrow-”

“That’s not fair, I didn’t-”

“Reynolds,” Dave’s voice was restrained. “No one else went back there tonight except you. Camera doesn’t lie.”

 _Altered recordings do,_ Cam thought to herself. She exhaled in defeat. No use fighting it for now, evidently Steph had gone to extensive lengths to cover up her little rendezvous with the rookie hunter; She’d just have to find another means of proving her guilt. “Whatever, then. Fine. Can I go?”

A long pause, silence that made the air feel thick. Someone coughed, and then, “Meeting adjourned.”

The attendees rose, but as they began to file out of the office Dave spoke up. “Actually, Greyson and Steph, stick back for a few minutes…”

Cam’s hands balled into fists and she made for the barracks to collect her weapons. It wasn’t right, but she had to roll with the punches on this. There had to be a way she could gain access to the recordings, or perhaps there was a witness around that could provide a statement…

A hand grabbed her arm and swung her around to face the opposite direction. It was Gladio. “Talk to me.”

“What do you want me to say?” her sun was humming below her skin. Try as she did to deny it, she liked looking at him.

He frowned though his eyes were warm. “What happened?”

“I didn’t break into the armory, if that’s where you’re going with this.” Cam’s voice had a grit to it, though she tried to be sincere…She could tell him, right? What she saw? Would he react well to it or get upset? Given the unknown state of their relationship (could it even be called that? The questions were unyielding tonight) She couldn’t be certain, instead she tiptoed at the precipice and brushed over what occurred. “I saw…Steph, inside.”

Gladio’s eyebrows jumped a bit. “In the armory? That’s impossible. She’s not that kind of person.”

“Are you sure?” Cam took an involuntary step towards him, halting mid second. “Gladio, I-I know what I saw. Honest to Astrals, I saw her…”

He exhaled a deep breath, checked his six and took Cam’s hand leading her inside the barracks. It was too early for anyone to be asleep so he knew they’d have some privacy. Cam’s heart hammered when he pulled her into the dark foyer of the sleeping quarters. After ensuring they were alone he whispered, the tenor in his voice like an engine. “Look, I don’t know what happened but…just, don’t mess around with her. She’s got a mean streak a mile wide and gets what she wants, no matter what the cost.”

“Why go out with her in the first place, then?” Cam whispered back, though instantly regretted her abrasive tone. He was still holding her hand; She had no intention of letting go at that moment. “I mean, if she’s not that nice of a person…”

Gladio pulled Cam close, their torsos touching and her marking reacted with renewed heat. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, his facial hair brushing her head in a comforting way before he wrapped his arms around her. “I did what I had to…to get by.”

Confusion clawed at her sense of reason and she wanted to question his response but he was surrounding her, radiating warmth and intoxicating allure. They stood still for countless seconds, their breathing synched and hearts linked, both overwhelmed at the effects of one another’s proximity. Two addicts tapped at the vein; Two ships that sailed in the night for far too long.

Gladio’s hand stroked her jaw line and pulled her face upwards, planting the softest kiss of a lifetime on Cam’s lips. With barely any pressure and only the feel of his mouth against hers, melding between them in perfect symmetry and balance, they gave each other what the other had desperately needed all their life without being aware of doing so.

Cam’s phone buzzed abruptly and Gladio pulled away, much sooner than both of them had anticipated so she could answer. She didn’t recognize the number.

“I’ll give you some privacy,” Gladio slipped past her and back outside, and just like that she was alone.

Cam answered the call. “Hello?”

“Hey, Cam?” A young female’s voice greeted her, one Cam couldn’t place to a face.

“Yes, this is she. Who’s this?”

“It’s Iris,” she replied, her voice unnaturally formal. “I got your number from Prompto, I hope that’s okay.”

Cam was surprised to hear from her. “No, that’s alright. Is there something you need?”

She hesitated, but continued after some last minute deliberation.

“Yes. I have a big favor to ask.”


	15. Loose Ends

Gladio stepped out of the barracks, Cam’s kiss still fresh on his lips and heart going a mile a minute as if he’d gone for a quick jog. She was growing on him. Not that he’d complain much…but he had to talk to Steph, and soon. The idea of it was enough to put a bad taste in his mouth, eliminating all trace of his soulmate’s cloying presence, but it was necessary otherwise he was just plain cheating and that wasn’t a fibre of his makeup.

He’d have to be honest with her; That there was someone else, that he felt their relationship well was running dry, that Cam was actually there the majority of the time and he needed something more than the odd shag now and then. Call it maturing, call it side effects of Astral interference. Gladio was ready for more, ready to inject purpose back into his life. Seeing Ignis and his soulmate Raine with their doting son together only fueled that desire, one he’d all but given up on after that day in the Lestallum market when he’d let her get away. 

He couldn’t do that again.

Steph didn’t want that life, for reasons from her past that he was well aware of. Back when she first told him he could easily say fuck it to aspirations; he needed a distraction, a getaway, a sentimental touch to counter the pain. Something to make him forget. Something to make him feel. But now they didn’t mesh and she went against his grain. He couldn’t make her happy. She couldn’t make him happy.

But Cam could…

Dave nodded at him and approached, a question in his tired expression. “Everything alright?” 

Gladio grunted. “Is what it is. Need something?”

“Actually, yeah. The Marshal’s looking to up patrols near the city, in light of recent events.” Dave pulled a folded and heavily creased map of Lucian roads and highways from his back pocket, pointing out areas traced in red marker. “These are the routes, if you’re up for it. Decent pay, just long hours. We’ve got Stevens on this route but we can’t send him out alone…” 

There was a slight air of desperation in Dave’s voice, Gladio could detect it and he frowned; they needed the help, he knew no one else was accepting this patrol because of the sheer quantity of daemons that lingered on the city outskirts, waiting with hopes that the power would go out…He’d seen it firsthand once as a fill-in on a patrol many moons ago. Being in his nature to help those who needed it, Gladio nodded. “Alright, I’ll take care of it.”

Dave all but breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, much appreciated. I’ll text you a digital scan with GPS coordinates-”

 Carmine locks of hair demanded attention from Gladio’s peripherals. “Thanks, sorry, gotta run.” He left Dave and jogged towards Steph, calling her name as she was opening the door to her vehicle.

When he reached her she paused, one foot in and the other still on solid ground. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes?”

Frosty, apathetic; she must have still held insult from his blatant disregard for her from earlier that evening, before the behemoth battle. Gladio tried his best to be approachable. “Got a minute? Would really like to talk to you about some things.” 

Steph’s expression didn’t waiver, an almost blank canvas devoid of emotion. “Does it look like I have time? I’m heading out, can it wait?”

“It’s kind of important,” Gladio replied, taking a step away from her, the ice in her words almost tangible. “How long will you be gone?”

“One, maybe two days.”

His hands balled into tight fists. “You sure you don’t have time, for me?”

A heavy sigh deflated her lungs and she rolled tired eyes his way, ire in her voice. “I’m already behind schedule with that asshole showing up,” - she gestured to the dead behemoth overhead - “and Hammerhead is waiting on this gil ration to pay for a shipment of MREs. Any later than I already am and my job’s on the line. Unless you’re fine being the reason I get fired-”

Without warning Gladio pounded a fist against the hood of Steph’s car, exasperation getting the better of him as he narrowed his eyes at her and stormed off.

Steph watched him walk away in the rear view mirror and tutted, closing the car door before driving through the bloodied tunnel entrance and out of HQ. Once under the cover of the tunnel, she dialed a memorized number, two short rings and a familiar voice answered. They were anticipating her call. “ _So? You have good news, I trust._ ”

“Negative,” Steph replied, “the behemoth was barely a distraction for them, it was felled far too quickly for me to access everything required. They only have dibs on what happened in the armory, though, but it’s only a matter of time before they make any connections.”

“ _Fair enough,_ ” the voice while not displeased responded in a mixed tone. “ _So long as you are not held accountable for any of the discrepancies they happen upon, we’re good._ ”

“They’re none the wiser, have their sights on the new girl and she’s gotten the blame for it. Though that initiate could rat me out, still….”

The voice on the other line chuckled low, dark. “ _Another loose end to tie up, my dear?_ ”

Steph smirked as she accelerated out of the tunnel. “It would seem so.”

 

Cam’s new job was, in a word, unextraordinary.

She took a break from sharpening the stack of dull blades, leaning on the booth’s counter and watching the same two veteran hunters bicker over their kill count for the second time today. They’d been on hunts and back again in the time she’d stood in one spot, tending to the near endless pile of knives, daggers and swords that needed refinement, repetitive mundane work that bored her senseless. Sure, perhaps she’d enjoy the lackluster task several weeks ago, but today? She felt restless, the body of a fighter restricted to confined quarters. 

The phone call from the night before was back on her mind. Iris had called and asked Cam if she would be willing to do something her own brother would not: train her. She wanted to become a hunter, and help make a difference. Though Cam initially denied it flat-out, saying it wasn’t the right time, but Iris said something that had her reconsidering: “When _will_ it be the right time for me, then? When the power finally gives and the city is taken over by daemons, and I’m backed into an alley? I have _no one else_ , Cam. Gladio barely visits anymore because they have him so busy there, and the Crownsguard members are constantly on call. I’m all alone, Cam…I need to be able to watch my back.” 

In all regards she was right; there eventually would come a time in her life when she’d need to know how to defend herself, be it a disaster in Lestallum or otherwise. Her age did nothing to phase Cam as it did with Gladio, if anything it made her more ripe to train so she could get a head start. 

And the fact that she too, was alone in this…to say it struck a chord in her was an understatement.

Gladio would not be okay with it. Period. She had to be willing to compromise whatever kind of relationship was germinating between them for the sake of training the seventeen year old girl. Perhaps her approach could sway his favour, if she laid out the reasons and proved she knew what she was doing, maybe throwing in some compliments to her trainer and saying she learnt from the best might help…It was futile. He wouldn’t be thrilled at the idea. There had to be a way, though…

A truck sped through HQ, much faster than considered appropriate given the fact there were people walking about the area. It slammed on the brakes and skid into park near where the two veteran hunters were seated by the food vendor. An older hunter got out, already in hysterics and the two bickering veterans rushed to his aid, asking what was wrong and trying to shake some sense into him as he was a mess. The man was weeping, red faced and hunched over, and though a fair distance from her Cam could tell he was trembling. “M-my boy, they got my boy…”

In his hands he clutched a hooded sweatshirt, unmistakably child sized and coated in reddish-pink blotches.

Anguished fury swelled in Cam’s heart at the sight. Without hesitation, without a plan, Cam pulled out her phone and called Iris. She didn’t have to wait long for her to pick up.

“I’ll train you on one condition,” she breathed, the memory of Nolan’s last night alive pulled from the recesses of her mind.

“Promise you’ll slay every last daemon that walks the face of Eos with me.”


	16. Lead by Example

The following night after her shift, Cam pulled into Lestallum to pick up Iris for her first hunt. 

She drove Greyson’s truck, of whom she was eternally thankful for considering he also offered to turn in their hunts for payment since she was temporarily banned from collecting bounties. Cam explained the process to Iris, who listened attentively with eagerness to get started. She fidgeted with her seatbelt en route to the Coernix bypass. “Thanks again, Cam. I really mean it, if there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, just name it.”

Cam nodded, the gist of a smile on her chapped lips. “Don’t thank me yet, gotta kill something first. Also um,” she looked away from the road for a moment and gave the girl an earnest look, “maybe let’s keep this between us until you’ve developed your skillset. I know your brother will be less than ecstatic that I’m doing this…”

“You didn’t tell him?” an air of concern toned Iris’s voice as they pulled over to the side of the road at their destination, the hunt a short trek away from the pavement. “I thought you guys were…I-I mean-”

“Oh, no no,” Cam shook her head a little faster than she’d intended. “We’ll approach him once you’ve already got a killcount going, hard for him to deny you once you’ve already proven your worth.” 

“Good idea.”

They hopped out of the truck and Cam came around to Iris’s side, but not before stopping to grab something in the back cab. “I have something for you.” 

She presented the teenager with two handguns, the very same ones she’d began hunting with. Iris turned them back and forth in her hands, testing the weight of them, her face a jumble of emotions. Cam explained, “These were mine, before Gladio moved me up to swords. It’s not much, but it will kill stuff and that’s what we need to do for now, at least until you can afford to-”

Iris set the guns on the hood of the truck and pulled Cam into a sudden, unexpected and wordless hug, overcome with gratitude. Cam sighed, returning the gesture. After she showed Iris how to tighten the holsters around her belt, Cam shrugged her swords into place behind her back and they headed into the fray.

The bounty was on a small gang of hobgoblins, something slightly more intermediate than Cam had hoped to offer on a first-timer hunt as they could hit hard; she’d have to ensure they couldn’t get a blow in otherwise things would go south, and fast. She pondered about sparring later down the road and surmised it would be required, remarking that the majority of her quick reflexes were honed through duelling. First Iris had to gather enough gil to get some armor, before moving onto close-quarters combat with melee weapons. Cam could sense the deja-vu with her own progress, but she thought it better to stick with what she knew.

They followed the ungroomed path down the hillside, carving through the overgrown brush and rerouting themselves at impassable areas. “Feels good to get out of the city,” Iris spoke from behind Cam, who was following the map on her phone, “like I can finally breathe or something. It’s so crowded there, even on the best of days.”

“I know the feeling,” Cam replied, keeping her voice low so as to not draw attention to themselves, “Like your thoughts aren’t even your own there, huh?”

“Yes, exactly!” Iris checked behind them periodically. “Like I barely have room to breathe some days. Out here, at least I can move without feeling like I’m about to bump into someone…” 

Just as Cam stepped out from around a large boulder her eyes landed on a swatch of purple-grey skin and she stepped back, certain they hadn’t spotted her. She held a hand up to halt Iris, instead motioning her to slowly peek around the side and get a closer look at them. “There’s three, maybe four total. That’s a lot of fists, fists that will easily knock you out cold with one hit.” She turned back, narrowing her eyes at the brunette. “I have a plan, but how confident are you in your aiming abilities, would you say?”

Iris pursed her lips, considering. “A bit, but not much.” 

 _At least she’s being honest,_ Cam thought. “Okay, don’t worry, it comes with experience. For now try to aim at their limbs. Avoid shots to their torsos, all that muscle will just eat your bullets. If you can manage head shots they’ll drop like flies.” In a slinking motion Cam reached back and unsheathed both swords, eliciting a hushed _woah_ from Iris. She glanced around the corner once more, plotting her plan of attack before turning back. “Okay, I’ll head in to get them started. Can probably take one out with a couple quick blows myself, but I’ll need you to start firing as soon as you can get a good line of sight on ‘em. Feel free to start with just one, too, if both guns are overwhelming,” Cam nodded. “Ready?”

Iris gave a brave nod in return, flicking the safety off the gun in her grasp. “Ready.”

With that, Cam all but leaped from behind the rock and the hobgoblins reacted in surprise, animalistic growls as they beat their chests with massive bludgeoning fists. Sure enough Cam could detect a wide opening for one of the daemons and made quick work of it, arms windmilling through the air as she launched herself into a devastating whirlwind attack. Her blades sliced at it’s flesh like a hot knife through butter, the skin ripping to expose planes of flayed muscles, it’s anguished yelps only pushed her bloodlust into overdrive, and with one fell swoop she separated it’s right arm from it’s body. The enemy swayed and dropped, blackened-purple daemon blood spurting in all directions as it bled out, staying down for good.

Cam swivelled just in time to dodge a fist, countering with a well timed blow to the back of the daemon’s neck, the edge of her sword almost getting lodged in between the links of its spinal column. Just then she heard a gunshot ring out, and the hobgoblin occupying her blade fell limp, the telltale black hole that blossomed on its temple the culprit. _Beginner’s luck,_ Cam thought and grinned, though it was short-lived as a hobgoblin unsurprisingly barrelled towards Iris, who had begun running around the perimeter of the action. _Good girl,_ Cam thought, _keep moving…_

Cam had another near miss that moment, one of the daemons catching her off guard and trying to swipe her legs out from below her. Dammit, where was her honed composure and focus all of a sudden? She reeled back, her elbow connected with it’s jaw, giving with the force of impact and going slack. It howled in pain but attempted to swing at her once more, just glancing Cam’s wrist and causing her blade to slip from her grasp. It flung through the air with a boomerang effect before smacking into a tree. 

She was down a weapon, and there were two daemons left. Iris was firing at one of them, though missing or just grazing for the most part due to the distance and the fact that she was moving. But then the petite girl did something that gave Cam a surge of pride: she withdrew the second gun from its holster, jammed the safety off, and started firing at both enemies at once.

One dropped, still reeling in it’s death throes but Cam ignored it, chasing after the last one until she was in range to attack. She slashed at it’s back, causing it to slow and whip around just in time for her sword to slash its neck. It swayed drunkenly before dropping at her feet, dead. 

“Excellent!” Cam breathed, catching her breath. “All clear.”

Iris panted as well, but movement caught her eye and she approached the last hobgoblin that wasn’t quite dead yet, thrashing around in agony. “Not yet!”

She swung her leg up and with a cleaving slam brought her boot down on it’s face.

 

“That was AWESOME!” Iris was positively beaming on the drive back to HQ. “I feel like I could take on an Astral!”

Cam snickered. “Let’s save that one for another day. But you did great, girl. For your first time, you really stood your ground.” She offered her a supportive grin, a rare teeth-baring one, and Iris all but jumped out of her skin with adrenaline-fuelled glee.

“So, when’s the next one?” she asked eagerly as the truck entered the tunnel. “I really like bashing daemon heads in.”

“I don’t see why we can’t get another one out before the day is done,” Cam checked the time, surmising she could grab a blue hunt or two for them to quickly scrape off the docket and earn the girl some extra gil. Oddly though, she was feeling rather beat after that green level hunt, something she hadn’t felt since her earlier training days…

Passing it off as a long day of repetitively sharpening blades, she pulled out of the tunnel and into hunter HQ. The blood puddle at the entrance had dried, the behemoth corpse now gone as several hunters had driven up and around the rock shelf earlier in the day to tow the body a few miles away. 

As she found a spot to park, Cam asked, “Have you ever been here before?”

“Just once,” Iris replied, checking her face in the visor mirror for any spots of blood. She was surprisingly clean for just having committed daemoncide. “I came here with Gladio…right after Noctis went into the crystal.” 

“Oh,” Cam coughed, the prince’s -no, _king’s_ name causing ripe goosebumps to pepper her skin. Gladio had told her many moons ago of his relation to the Lucis family, how his family was responsible to act as the shield of the king, how the scar over his left eye was caused by a bully attacking him and he came between them…She’d asked him to share more about their travels together but he brushed it off, said he “wasn’t ready” to revisit the good times so soon, that he’d need to hold onto them for when he truly lost hope that light would never be restored to Eos… 

Cam slinked out of the vehicle and Iris followed, unbuckling the holsters from her belt loops and setting it on the back of the truck. They spotted Greyson chatting with someone near the western guard post and he waved them down, meeting them halfway. “So,” He hummed, adjusting his bandana around his neck. “How’d it go?” 

“She’ll be a certified hunter in no time,” Cam replied, much to Iris’s delight as she held back a laugh. She handed Greyson the completed hunt flyer and pulled her phone out to send him the kill shots so he could collect their bounty. “We’ll stick with guns for a bit, as my first trainer did with me,” she continued, nodding at the husky man, “but if you want we can switch to something pointy and sharp later on.”

“That’s what I’m looking forward to,” Iris replied, and Cam could swear she puffed her chest out a bit. It was inspiring. “Eventually, I want to have a greatsword, like my big brother.”  
  
Cam’s eyebrows bounced a bit. “Wow, ambition girl. I can respect that-”

_“IRIS?!”_

Cam’s heart leaped up her throat as Gladio’s voice bellowed from behind them, echoing off the natural stone walls of HQ. Her and Iris turned simultaneously to find Gladio, coated in a layer of sweat, blood and something mucus-like, hands balled into tight fists as he approached. He looked ripe to kill whatever he’d already offed previously. “Why are you here??”

Iris shrunk her shoulders, her mouth opening to respond but the words wouldn’t come. She looked at Cam for help, at a complete loss for words. Gladio’s eyes fixated onto her as well; her soulmate marking indicated so, the outline tingling slightly. 

Cam considered herself an honest person. She’d barely told anything above a fib before and thought herself not great at being dishonest. It always left a bad taste on her mouth at just the thought of bending the truth, yet in the two seconds it took for her to reply to Gladio, her soulmate and one of only a couple people left in the world she could trust…”She needed to get out of the city, so I brought her here to visit you.”

She _lied._

Iris followed suit like a well thought-out plan they’d discussed. “Yeah, I missed you big bro. Plus I had to see what the commotion was about over this behemoth-”

“Dammit, Iris,” Gladio growled, “It’s not safe here for you-”

“It’s not safe anywhere, Gladdy!” Iris’s shrill yelp in response cut the air around them, people staring. “When will you get that? One of these days something bad is going to happen and you won’t be there to protect me-” 

Gladio turned on his heel and walked away from them, calling over his shoulder. “I’ll drive you back to Lestallum myself. Cam, we’ll talk about this when I get back.”

Cam’s brain was throbbing. Why did she have to complicate things… She offered an apologetic look to the younger girl. “Sorry, Iris. I-I don’t know why-” 

“No, thank you for covering my butt,” Iris replied as they trudged behind the messy man, steam almost radiating from him as he made for his Jeep, passing the hunt posting board on the way. Iris’s eyes lit up at the sight, and she trailed behind to get a look at it. “Woah…There’s so many…” she mumbled to herself.

When Gladio reached his vehicle and noticed Iris was still behind, he turned around and found her stopped in her tracks, fixated on the hunt postings. His teeth mashed together. “Iris, what the hell?”

She jolted and ran over. “Sorry! I saw something…”

Without another remark, Gladio backed out of the parking spot and drove off into the darkness of the tunnel. Cam watched his taillights dim as his Jeep faded into the distance.

She wanted to throw up, the lie she’d told had burned her tongue like a fresh cup of Ebony. She regretted it immensely, but at least now she had time to plan her next move, determine when the best time to take Iris out would be. He’d texted her about his new patrolling gig, conveniently provided her with a schedule, suggesting they could spend time together or go on a drive when he wasn’t on duty. She liked the idea very much, though realized now just how thinly stretched her time would be…

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, an incoming text message. She pulled it out and opened it. It was from Prompto: _So I see you outside without a beer in your hand. Come inside and I’ll change that._

Cam’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion, before she realized she was standing just outside the bar. She peered into the window and sure enough, a familiar chocobo-butt hairstyle was visible in the dim bar lighting. He flicked his hand in a casual wave to her and she returned the gesture.

She couldn’t deny it; a cold one sounded damn fine right about now.


	17. Detach

“I lied to him, Prompto. And now I don’t know what to do.”

Cam fidgeted with a scrap of label from her beer bottle, twisting the paper into a tight bind. Across from her Prompto had his chin in his hand, looking lost in thought, perplexed as to how he could offer support. He knew better than her that Gladio, though often claiming to be a simple man, was in fact quite the opposite despite his demeanor. He gnawed on a fingernail, turning the beer bottle in his other hand on it’s base, the warm stale remnants at the bottom passed drinking quality. His eyes flicked back to hers and she looked defeated. 

Prompto sat upright, worked a kink from his neck and spoke his mind. “I really think you should tell him the truth. It will suck, bigtime, but it’s better than him finding out through someone else, or by accident.” He made eye contact with her and held it. “Pull him aside when the time’s right and he’s not a raging mess, just calmly tell him the truth and all you can do is hope for the best. If you tell him exactly what you told me-why you wanted to help her, and that she called you and asked-maybe he’ll see it as a good thing.”

“Doubt it,” Cam replied, exhaling as she leaned back against the booth. She swung her foot absently and accidentally hit Prompto’s leg, to which she tucked them back against the seat. “Even just seeing Iris here was enough to have him shouting…” 

“Doesn’t take much for him to holler, Cam.”

Prompto was smiling, his statement intending to do the same for her. She allowed a small grin, and dropped her hands to the table, the paper label flakes ploofing upwards and scattering across the surface. “Alright, I’ll talk to him sooner than later. Thanks, Prompto.”

In a gesture that Cam hoped was of friendship and nothing more, Prompto placed his hand on top of both of hers, his fingers brushing her palm. He was trembling and she couldn’t be certain of his intentions, knowing only how out of place it was, yet it offered comfort that she so desperately required and so her hand tightened around his fingertips. It didn’t help that his gentle smile was warm, endless kindness in his violet eyes. “Anytime,” he murmured, barely audible… 

A blaring noise from outside startled both of them, two heads snapping to look out the window for the source. Gladio’s Jeep was back and Cam could see him leaned in the driver’s side, fist pounding the steering wheel and hitting the horn repeatedly. Something was wrong.

They bolted out of the bar and towards Gladio, being the first two people to come to his aid as several others joined. “What’s going on?” Prompto asked.

Cam could tell before Gladio reached the passenger’s side door that something wasn’t right, making out the silhouette of a man through the tinted windows, sitting _very still_ in the front seat…

The door swung open and several people gasped, a bloodied and severely wounded young man almost rolled out as Gladio caught him and Cam was at the ready to ease him down to the ground. He was already bleeding on her, blood gathering in the folds of her armor. “Someone get Dino!” Gladio yelled above her. “We need a stretcher!”

A handful of people rushed off towards the first aid station while others were transfixed in shock, staring at the horror unfolding before them. Cam pushed some stray hairs from his face, matted and caked with sweat, dirt and blood 

She inhaled sharply, recognizing the man instantly.

It was the initiate she caught in the armory with Steph. 

He was delirious, catatonic as his lips quivered violently and his eyelids twitched. Cam tried to speak to him. “What’s your name? W-what happened to you?!”

No response, just increased twitching and involuntary movements. Cam gave him a once over, his body riddled with cuts and slashes, his armor doing little to prevent the brunt of them. Whatever had attacked him must have had massive claws, or weapons…

Suddenly his body convulsed and he grabbed her arm with an almost painful grasp, people coming closer to see what the commotion was. He was almost having a seizure, eyes rolling back in his head and his breath raspy and uneven. Before Cam could react, he’d stopped moving, body going limp, his hold on her arm released. 

“O-oh my god,” someone mumbled in shock standing above her as she cradled the now dead man’s head in her lap, his pupils like tight pinpricks in his glazed-over irises. Dino and the people who’d run off to get a stretcher had arrived to the scene, but they were too late. They all were; there had been no hope for him. Gladio kicked the back tire of the Jeep, his hands raking back through his thicket of hair, expression pained and defeated.

Ceremoniously, Cam closed the man’s eyelids.

 

They agreed not to talk that night. 

It was all too formal and cleancut, multiple bystanders around given the events of the young man’s death. “Plus I need to scrub the floor of the Jeep,” Gladio added, darkly, “glad I went with leather seats at least…”

Cam turned over in her bunk, grabbing her phone from underneath her pillow and opened the gallery, scrolling all the way down to the bottom. The photos of hers and Nolan’s trip to Galdin Quay warming the glow of her phone screen. She smiled, letting her mind drift back to those days, memories so long gone and swallowed by the darkness that they were a stuttered film reel, bits and pieces left for her to recall. She knew dwelling on the past was unhealthy, her soulmate marking gave indication to that by initiating a dull ache at her hip, but sometimes she couldn’t resist letting the sun from years past back in, desperate for the light, desperate for a familiar comfort.

But then in a moment of sick irony her phone died, the screen going black, and the darkness encroached around her once more.

 

“Can’t talk long, batteries almost dead on this thing.”

Many miles from HQ, Steph paced around near her car, trying to keep the already faint signal of her call. She held the phone to her ear as she gathered her scarlet locks into a ponytail. “Consider that ‘loose end’ of ours tied up.” 

The person on the other line responded with a deep, tenor chuckle. _“Certainly don’t waste any time, do you?”_

“Let’s just say I’d rather nip things in the bud before they blossom into an ugly flower.”

 _“Fair enough,”_ the voice offered. _“Now, about your targets…”_

Steph swallowed. “Right.”

 _“Do you have a time frame in mind? Certainly I trust you’re working to the best of your ability whilst maintaining your proper guise,”_ the voice’s eloquent accent took her down a peg. _“Just remember, I_ saved _you with_ purpose. _”_

“I know, I know.” She felt the bile in her throat rise, the reminder of her existence a low blow. She pressed on. “I’ve…hit a small roadblock, that I need to clear before I can continue. Remember that girl I mentioned when we last spoke?” 

A pause, then the voice answered her. _“Right, I can recall. What about her?”_

Steph inspected her long fingernails. “She’s coming up in my cross hairs time and time again. Not to mention she’s making it hard for me to…accomplish my task.” She opened her phone’s gallery whilst putting the call on speaker. “Figure I may have to add her to the list, if you don’t mind.”

 _“Me? Abstain from destruction and despair?”_ The voice on the other line imposed a sarcastic tone. _“Be my guest, dear. Do take photos. You know how much I_ appreciate _them.”_

Steph flicked back and forth between the newest set, secretive shots of Cam with a younger girl, handing her two pistols. “I have some of her alive that I’ll send your way, if you’d like.” 

 _“Please do,”_ they responded. _“I’m a sucker for before and after comparisons.”_

“Oh, you won’t recognize her when I’m finished,” Steph muttered, barely loud enough for the caller to hear. “But first, let me have some fun with them.”

The voice laughed darkly.

_“That’s my girl.”_

Steph ended the call and sent Gladio a text message.

 

“So, what’s next?”

Iris was practically bouncing in her seat, two blue hunts down for the count and a couple other flyers splayed out on the bench seat of the truck. Cam couldn’t help but feel giddy, the girl’s excitement infectious despite the events of the night before. She decided during her shift of sharpening blades that continuing Iris’s training was important, now more than ever with the death of that initiate.

Cam’s skin crawled, flashbacks of him dying in her arms assaulting her tired mind. She shook her head before replying to Iris. “Think we can make quick work of that pack of flans just outside of Astor Slough, may eat your ammo though as they’re a pain to take down with physical attacks.” She flipped on the heat, the early evening chill starting to seep into the truck’s cabin. “But the gil from this one alone will cover both your restocking of bullets and you should have enough to afford your first piece of armor.”

“That’s great,” Iris peered out the passenger’s side window, ripe with anticipation. “When do I get one of those cool bandanas?”

“I think we can work one into the deal,” Cam smirked beside her.

They drove on towards Astor Slough, a short silence fell between them until Cam decided to ask about the night before. “He wasn’t too harsh on you, was he?”  
  
“Oh, no not really,” Iris replied, though Cam could detect a hint of bitter undertone in her words. “He was mad at you, though. Did you guys fight last night?”

Cam frowned, unhappy to hear he was so upset with her but not surprised. “No, we…didn’t get a chance to. Probably going to after his patrol tonight, though. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

They parked in the lot off the side of the road and got out, Iris reloading her guns and counting through her stock of bullets. “How many are there in total?” She asked Cam.

She scanned their surroundings, feeling unusually on-edge. “Flyer said about six, but flans aren’t known for their speed. Just gotta keep their spellcasting interrupted and you should be able to kite them while I attack from behind.” 

“Gotcha.”

Cam tightened her messy ponytail, adjusted her armor and shifted her swords in place behind her back. “Ready?”

Iris gave her a quick nod. “Ready as I’ll ever be!”

_I’m ready to talk, whenever you’re free xox_

Gladio frowned at the text message from Steph. Off his patrol shift early, he figured now would be better than later. He found her number in his phone and dialed. She answered after the second ring. “Hey, sexy. Missed you, how’ve you been?”

“Fine,” He answered, coldly, all business. “I’m free to talk, where can I meet you?”

Steph glanced over her shoulder, two figures leaving their truck parked on the side of the road in the distance, hopping the guardrail to head into the forest. “You know that little pitstop near Astor Slough? I’m there right now, if you’re nearby.”

Gladio knew the area well. “Alright, be there in fifteen.”

 

_Only two left…only two left…._

Cam mentally hyped herself up again, her breathing ragged from chasing the flans for several minutes in a row. She felt weakened, as if her muscles were atrophying from lack of use, but she persevered and drew deep from her energy stores, catching up with one of them in time to hack a gelatinous hunk off the daemon blob. Iris was firing away, still missing with most of her shots yet she’d kept up the pace, kiting them around the small clearing as Cam had suggested she do, becoming the master of reloading on the run. She jammed a full clip into her pistol, fired twice at the flan almost flanking Cam, holstered it before retrieving her other gun and reloading the spent chamber. Once both were ready to go, she fired on all cylinders, each shot hitting paydirt and she grinned wickedly.

The flan Cam had chopped a part off of disintegrated into a puddle of strange goo and she hopped over it, nearly colliding with the last one as it turned to counter her attack. She raised her blades in tandem and brought them both down in one sweeping motion, hacking a considerable gouge in it’s head just as four well-placed shots pierced through it’s face. It jiggled before keeling over into a molten pile of gel, defeated.

“Wahoo!” Iris cheered, holstering her guns and almost skipping towards Cam, who was still catching her breath. She was sloppy, her skills feeling rusty, and had it not been for Iris’s barrage of bullets Cam may have actually had difficulty completing the blue level hunt. Add to that, her wrists were on fire, something she’d only experienced when first swapping her guns for swords…

Still, she kept positive; they’d downed another hunt and Iris was on her way to her first piece of armor. She’d have a full set in no time. “Good stuff, we make a pretty good team.”

Iris’s eyes lit up. “You think so?”

“For sure,” Cam replied, turning to walk alongside the girl as they made for the trail out of the woods. “I can’t wait to see you handle a sword-”

Iris stopped cold and Cam realised why a fraction of a second too late. 

Gladio was standing at the edge of the clearing, teeth gritted and fists balled, completely still yet violent rage rolled off his shoulders in waves. Cam’s hip singed with a furious heat, his own anger coursing through her bloodstream and her vision tinted red. Despite his fury, his voice was low when he spoke. “Iris,” he bellowed, “come with me. Now.”

She protested in response. “Why? Gladdy, I-”

 **“NOW.”**  

As with the night before, Iris’s shoulders fell and she gave Cam a defeated look. “S-sorry, Cam,” she mumbled, her lower lip quivering as she shuffled towards her older brother, away from Cam and leaving her to fight the madness on her own.

It wasn’t right. How did he know they were here? She’d checked before they left to ensure they were alone, to ensure there were no enemies waiting in the sidelines to take them out. He must have followed them, or knew they would be here somehow…

His anger was influencing her emotions, swaying her guard and she hollered at him, letting the rage have it’s way with her. “You can’t protect her forever!”

Gladio took a step forward, his chest rising and falling hard with his shredded breaths. “You lied to me!! Who the hell gave you the right, Cam?! She’s still a kid!!”

“Poor excuse, Gladio,” Cam replied, her voice going up an octave from the unrestricted anger in her system, “the end of the world doesn’t care how old you are, only if you’re alive or dead! I’m only trying to help her live!”

“By putting her in danger and giving her a loaded weapon?!” Gladio’s voice boomed back at her.

“Excuse me?! I was only doing what you did with me!! How else will she get the practice?!” Cam exhaled, one hell of a retort staining her tongue in volatile oil: “You don’t have the strength, the will, to train her yourself.”

Her words cut through him, she could tell even over the many yards that separated them and she regretted it instantly. But the damage was done.

His next words would be her undoing. “Go to hell, Cam. Leave us the fuck alone.”

An almost physical snap hit her heart, the tension surmounting the connection to her soulmate marking and it broke free, the almost ever-present warm, tingling sensation faded away entirely leaving nothing but a hollow void that grew colder by the second.

Gladio turned and Iris followed him out of the clearing while tears blurred Cam’s vision. Everything became a muddled mess of color, strained from the darkness surrounding her, but she could faintly make out a slight smudge of crimson red, her least favourite color in the entire world, trailing behind the two Amicitia siblings and out of the woods.

 

Cam drove back to HQ alone, the stack of hunts shoved under the seat of the truck and out of her line of sight. Her head was pounding, one hell of a migraine coming on, and her chest was sore both in combination to the exertion of the fights and Gladio’s sandpaper words. Driving through the blackness of the tunnel leading into HQ, she received Prompto’s replying text: _Sure, I’ll wait outside for you to get back. We can talk all you want :)_

She needed someone, anyone to talk to, the loneliness creeping up from the most pitch parts in her psyche, the parts that had their hold on her when she lived in Lestallum shortly after Nolan’s death so many weeks ago. They were familiar acquaintances, missing her company. She needed light. She needed a friend.

She drove out of the tunnel and into HQ, finding a place to park Greyson’s truck. She’d clean it of the flyers and empty bullet casings later on. Right now, she was a shell of a person, so cold even though the nighttime chill could barely be called that at all.

Prompto approached her as she got out, dusting off her armor and letting her windswept ponytail down, messy curls falling around her shoulders. “Thanks, Prompto.”

He seemed short of words, rosy lips parted as he looked her over. “Anytime. What’s up?”

“You’re going to think I’m crazy, but…” She trailed off, considering her next words before she spoke them. “Do you -”

_“WEST GATE! ENEMY AT WEST GATE!”_

A loud air horn resounded after the megaphone announcer blared out. The two of them snapped their heads in the direction of the entrance on the opposite side of HQ. They shared confused looks and decided to investigate the cause for disturbance, a handful of other hunters following suit.

It was hard to tell in the harsh spotlights, but there was a single being, almost humanesque in stature, limbering aimlessly into the HQ grounds, though none of the gunners had fired yet. What were they waiting for?

Prompto and Cam were close enough now to tell it was definitely human…or at least once was, it’s badly decomposed and almost mummified state akin to a creature from horror films, or something from a nightmare. A blackened substance was oozing from whatever open cavities it had, staining the tattered pants they wore.

A few steps closer…And Cam’s stomach wretched. She recognized the face.

The face of her very dead fiance.

_Nolan._

Cam’s knees gave out and she dropped to the ground, the wind knocked from her lungs and a strangled, inhuman cry clawed up her throat. Prompto dropped next to her, asking what was wrong, what happened, trying to get her to look at him but she couldn’t respond, fixated on the zombified, demonified form of Nolan as it shuffled slowly towards them and the group of hunters. It growled and reached out a partially skeletal hand as a string of black goo shot out, singing the pavement in front of it: acid.

 _“OPEN FIRE!”_ one of the guards shouted, and they proceeded to unload their automatic weapons on Cam’s dead fiance, his body jutting frantically from the recoil as multiple gunners fired at once. Both red and black blood flew in violent sprays as the body was torn to shreds from their assault. No sooner had it made it’s entrance did it fall, defeated, into a pool of it’s own decomposed innards, dead for good.

Cam latched onto Prompto and held him painfully tight, fingers clawing at the lapels of his jacket, her body wracked with sobs as her entire world came crashing down. Still confused, he wrapped his arms around her as she pressed her face into his chest, her muffled scream echoing out into the endless night.


	18. Nest

Cam was lost.

Days melded together one after the other, without much to distinguish time passing save for the increased hollowness inside of her. The void was not a stranger but an old friend, one she’d last been acquainted with during her stay in Lestallum. It hadn’t forgotten about her; it merely waited to swallow her whole once she finally broke.

The routine never changed; she woke, lived, slept, rinse and repeat, over and over, the world going forward and pressing on but Cam was still, never moving with the tide.  

Often spending her time alone, whenever she did speak it bothered her throat going stale from lack of use, the sound of her voice becoming unfamiliar. People would look up when she said anything as it was rare occasion.

Eventually she was allowed to freely hunt again, not having to rely on Greyson to sneak her weapons out or turn in hunts for bounty. She often left with a stack of flyers early in the morning, coming back long after supper was served, waiting out the evening tucked in the darkest corner of the bar, seldom looking up from her drink.

But soon the hunts were less a getaway and became a burden; her skills diminished more and more each day, her wrists swelled and tender from the motions that had once been second-nature to her, but she kept at it because she needed the distractions, needed to feel again, needed to kill.

On one particular hunt she’d made a beginner’s mistake, left herself wide open and came dangerously close to losing a limb. It was pathetic, she thought. She’d once bested the Immortal himself, and now she couldn’t take on a small group of bashuras on her own. What was happening to her?

Reluctantly she’d stowed her swords under her bunk and looped the leather holster around her belt before reloading the pistols. Iris’s pistols.

Cam’s stomach dropped lower into the pit within. She’d let the girl down. Iris deserved to learn how to fight, to protect herself and others, make a difference as she’d said. Cam had texted her and apologized for what happened, but didn’t receive a reply. Perhaps Gladio told her not to talk to her. Perhaps She didn’t want to talk to her.

_Gladio…._

She’d broken his trust. Sure he’d reacted harsher than Cam would have liked, but at the end of the day she’d still lied to him. It wouldn’t have taken too much out of her to pull him aside, explain the situation and give him time to consider the pros. But she didn’t, and now they didn’t speak. Her soulmate, the sun in the dark, the one who helped pull her from the very pit she’d re-immersed in…

How was it so simple for him? He went about his day as if nothing changed, as if she didn’t exist. The moment he’d last spoken to her was the last she felt of their connection, her marking just an imprint in her skin now and nothing more. She missed it so much it actually hurt, the tingling and burning sensation she got in his proximity or just by thinking of him, the constant reminder that she had someone. That she was someone’s other half. That she mattered. That she wasn’t alone.

She was _so alone._

Tears visited every night, though she’d long since graduated from body-shaking sobs and whimpers and simply let them flow, her pillow a damp and tacky surface to rest her face on. The pain was a double-whammy, not only losing the loyalty of her soulmate and close friend, but seeing her fiance in such gruesome conditions, and be downed so violently, even though he was already dead…

Word quickly spread that the monster was Nolan. Some of the hunters recognized his face, what was left of it at least, plus his small dragon tattoo was a dead giveaway. A few of them expressed their sympathies to her, saying how ‘messed up’ it was he’d be turned into such a monstrosity, that it was a horrible coincidence. Cam wasn’t stupid; their house was far south from HQ and he was entering from the northwest. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together.

It was a message. A message, for her. She had an inkling as to who delivered it.

One night after tracking Steph’s schedule, almost predicting when the woman would be in the showers, Cam played her at her own game and slid into the locker rooms. She rifled through two lockers before finding Stephs, the signature wet-look leather pants she wore folded neatly on top of her personal belongings. She found her phone, silently praying she didn’t have a lock on it and was relieved to find the phone unlocked automatically without a security measure.

A cheerful selfie of Steph with a little girl, perhaps five or six years old was set as her wallpaper, the two of them laying on a striped blanket and their red hair splayed wildly around them. The girl was beaming, her two front teeth with the tooth fairy, the spitting image of Steph…

A slight pang of guilt knotted Cam’s insides, but she quickly opened the messaging app to block out the background image. Immediately she caught sight of a suspicious chain of messages from a contact with no name. She scrolled through them, but the texts were so ambiguous and riddled with acronyms and terms Cam couldn’t place, that they didn’t make much sense. The messages to Gladio consisted of paragraphs of texts sent and one word responses in return. He’d been a lot wordier with Cam in his texts; for some reason that made her smile.

On the home screen, a folder labelled ‘targets’ stuck out like a sore thumb. Cam tapped on it and a selection of ten photos popped up, four of them with red X’s through them. Immediately her spine shivered as she swiped through them, one by one. Three of the crossed-out faces she’d recognized as veteran hunters, all whom currently had their faces plastered on a newly erected board labelled ‘MIA’; the fourth…was the initiate, that Cam caught with Steph…

The rest… _oh God…_

The Marshal…

Dave…

Greyson…

Cam’s hand shook, the phone trembling in her grasp as she kept going through the photos.

Ignis… _Not a new father,_ she thought, _not him…_

Prompto… _Not her friend…_

The last one… _Oh, oh god no no NO-_

A door opened behind her and she nearly sprang out of her skin, snapping her head back to see who came into the locker room.

It wasn’t Steph, thankfully, but it was enough warning to tell her she had to get out of there. She locked the phone, tried to place it as she’d found it and left as quickly as she’d arrived.

Rounding the corner of the locker rooms she almost slammed into the redhead, who gave her a frosty look as Cam brushed past, noting how close she’d come to being sighted. The second Cam was outside her phone buzzed in her back pocket. Hesitantly given the situation moments before, she pulled the phone out and read the incoming message. It was from Greyson: _Emergency meeting in five mins, hope you’re around HQ._

Cam frowned, typing a quick _on my way_ before pocketing her phone again. Some days she regretted her little stunt with Cor; she was still known as the one who disarmed the Immortal and it was cause for her to be summoned to meetings, classified alongside veteran hunters. None of them knew of her diminished skillset except Prompto, but he’d passed it as an off day or something. She stopped by her bunk to grab a sweater, dropped off her weapons and made for the main office building.

Greyson and Prompto were there before her, otherwise she was early. She grabbed a seat between them, leaning over to ask her former fiance’s best friend what the meeting was called for. “No idea, to be honest,” He shrugged, tugging his leather chestpiece down over his stomach self-consciously. “For once I know nothing, so color me curious. Dave seemed pretty rushed on the phone, though.”

“I overheard one of the gunners,” Prompto mentioned as he pulled his chair closer to the pair. “They found what was causing the infrared readings, and it’s something near HQ.”

“Shit,” Cam breathed, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms and legs. People began to file in, some familiar high-ranking hunters, Dino and Steph, tieing her damp hair into a bun at her nape. Dave shuffled in behind them, followed by Ignis, Cor, and Gladio. He glimpsed at Cam but averted his eyes immediately. It stung.

Ignis pulled up a seat next to Prompto, who looked unseasonably weathered. Prompto noticed and questioned his old friend. “Dude, everything alright? You look beat.”

He shook his head in response, the scar on his bottom lip hidden, mouth pressed into a hard line, his arms folded and chin held low. Cam sensed an air of tension. Something wasn’t right…

Cor greeted them and interrupted her thought process. “Evening,” he nodded, the ever-present serious tone in his voice quieting the group. “Thanks for attending on such short notice, I assure you the situation is dire otherwise we would have given a heads up.” He pulled a map from the bulletin board behind him, unfolding it. Cam immediately recognized the area as the woods surrounding Hunter HQ, though something was circled a short distance to the north of base.

“This,” he gestured to the circled spot, “Is the cause for the high infrared readings our scout patrols have been encountering. This, is a daemon nest.”

Heads turned to look at one another in confusion at the never before heard term. The Marshal continued over the hushed whispers. “Essentially, a cave-like construct that appeared recently, and daemons have been spouting from it at a rate of four per minute.”

“That’s nothing,” Greyson piped up, “we get a good patrol on the spot and they won’t be able to keep up.”

“Not an ideal solution,” Cor replied, pinning the map back to the board, “and that amount is rising by the day. The scouts have determined by zero-hour tomorrow, that amount will double.” he paced around the room, reading the perplexed expressions watching him. “They also appear to be random in threat level, which is cause for concern as we have no means of predicting what will come out of it next…”

Dave piped up as the Marshal trailed off. “We think this is cause for the spike in hunters going MIA, or the increased amount of tags we’re finding in the surrounding area. A heavy attack on the base could certainly cause multiple deaths and damages beyond repair. We’re arranging a full-scale assault, dividing our best into three shifts so that we can break to rest in between, but it will not be easy.” he rubbed his forehead. “Gil is tight right now, but we’ve managed to increase our weapons and armor restock in time for this.”

“Exactly when is ‘time for this’ anyhow?” one of the veteran hunters asked.

“Tomorrow.” All eyes landed on the Marshal as he spoke. “We push the attack out any further and we risk overwhelming ourselves. It’s unclear how many the nest will be generating days from now.”

Cor pulled a whiteboard down from the ceiling near the back wall, drawing out a route and plan of action. “We station the front line at the east, near the backside of the construct, and will change shifts every three hours. It’s short, but this way we will keep alert while keeping consistent pressure on the spawns.” He drew out a general representation of the ‘nest’, an almost pyramid-like shape with a hole in the side. “We’ll get Dino setup with a first aid station along with someone on triage duty, and stock him with potions and elixirs at the ready.” He turned back to the group. “With any luck, we should be able to push back the daemon hordes and destroy the structure.”

“Questions?” Dave asked, though he was met with silence. Cam considered bringing up the evidence she found in Steph’s phone, but decided against it at the last minute, the consequence of her previous attempt to prove her guilt still fresh in her mind. “Very well. Meet back here at zero-six hundred hours. We’ll go over the plan and get you geared up and into shifts. Meeting adjourned.”

One by one the group disintegrated. Cam hung back from the attendees, waiting for the crowd to disperse, surprised to see Gladio was still seated with his head leaning against the wall. His eyes were shut, his face looking…exhausted? The man looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks…

“Meet you at the bar?” Prompto tapped her on the shoulder and she nodded, giving him a forced grin as he left with Greyson, and then almost by happy accident, they were alone together.

Several uncomfortable seconds passed in silence before Cam finally spoke, her throat almost forgetting how to work and cracking her words. “I’m sorry for lying to you.”

“Little late for that, don’t you think?” he replied, looking up at her with sleep-deprived eyes. Perhaps he was feeling some effect to their spat. “What’s done is done, your apologies can’t fix it. Iris is chomping at the bit to get back out there, and I have to be the protective older brother saying no. Thanks for that.”  
  
Cam sighed. “Gladio, I didn’t mean to lie to you. She asked me and I said yes, I know I should have told you but, I-I know you would have denied it and -”

“Then _why do it?_ ”

“Because I wanted to help her, that’s why.” She paced closer to him. “Because she needs to be able to defend herself. You’re not always going to be around to protect her. Today’s meeting should have opened your eyes to that-”

“The hell are you implying?” Gladio stood abruptly, almost towering over her, his amber eyes on fire.

Cam stepped back. “You’re not invincible, Gladio. What happens if that t-thing kills us all?! Then what, what happens to your sister?!” She raked her hands through her hair, getting frustrated. “If she’s unable to defend herself when they-“

Gladio’s fist smacked the wall, the vibration hitting Cam in her boots. “That’s not going to happen! She’s MY sister, MY family! You don’t _know_ what’s BEST _FOR EVERYONE, CAM,_ ” he was almost yelling now, “ _MAYBE THAT’S WHY YOU DON’T HAVE A FAMILY._ ”

Cam’s jaw dropped a fraction, the sharp intake of breath causing her lips to quiver. “Fuck off, Gladio.”

Seething, he grabbed his leather jacket from the back of his chair, gave her a look drenched in hatred, and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

Defeated, Cam fell against the desk behind her and crumpled in a heap, tears streaming down red-hot cheeks as she pulled her knees into her chest. _So that’s how it would be, then,_ she thought. Her heart couldn’t take much more of it, still bearing the wounds from their first ordeal, her soulmate marking still dormant and inactive despite being near him once more. Was this something that signalled release from his tie? Were they even considered soulmates, anymore?

And he had no idea. It infuriated her…

Her sobs gained volume at the pained realization, how easily the Astrals could release their bind, how empty it left her. How lonely she was…

She didn’t notice someone had entered until their boots were right in front of her. Cam looked up, wiping the mess of tears from her face.

It was Prompto. “Oh my gosh, Cam, what’s wrong?” he bent down to help her up and pushed the strands of hair from her face, his eyes worried and concerned. “Talk to me.”

Cam’s breath wasn’t cooperating and she fought to keep a steady inhale, but the surprise of someone walking in on her so vulnerable caused fresh sobs to shake her ribs. Prompto didn’t know what to do, so he pulled her into a hug, his hands stroking her back from underneath her sweater and his chin rubbing her head. “Hey, it’s alright, I’m here for you…”

He really was, she thought.

Gladio was gone, he’d made his feelings painfully clear on that note. Any attachment to him was purely residual by now, she had to guess, her pull to him nonexistent, at least so she thought but was it what she wanted? Was it what she needed?

Right now, she needed comfort. She needed closeness. She needed to feel.

Prompto felt nice.

Cam pulled back, sniffling as she looked up into inviting lavender pools, his eyelids flickering as his breath hitched in his throat, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously. A moment passed and the air shifted around them.  

“Cam…” her name fell from his lips in a whisper and it was enough. She pushed forward on her toes, pressing against him and urged her lips against his.

The sun on her hip came to life with a furious stabbing pain, absolute agony underneath her skin, but Cam ignored it.


	19. Forged

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW! ;)

They moved with matched willing, both eager to let go, to give in and let their bodies do the talking. 

Prompto’s mouth was inviting, delicious and intoxicatingly so. Where Gladio’s essence was power and passion absolute, Prompto was morphine, making the pain go away. Cam’s skin almost numbed beneath his touch, her mind mending at his kiss, putting her back together again. 

He backed her up towards the desk, a hand skimming up her torso and over her breast only to pause at the collar of her sweater. He thumbed the hem, breaking their kiss to give her a questioning look, a look of permission, eyes flicking over her expression. So kind, too kind. 

She nodded and Prompto eased her sweater off, his mouth back on hers without a moment to spare, running his hands along her back and pausing to unlatch the buckles of her leather armor crawling up her spine. Cam’s fingers busied themselves with unzipping his leather vest and he let her slide it off until it hit the ground. Immediately she tucked her hands under his shirt, astounded to feel the firm muscles beneath; the man was more toned than she’d thought. He hummed against her lips, a small moan of pleasure at her touch; he’d been deprived. They both were.

Cam pushed her feet up and hoisted her rear on the desk, her face inches above Prompto’s as he looked up at her with eager inclination. She grabbed the collar of his undershirt and pulled it over his head and he returned the favor, her tanktop coming off right after her unbuckled armor. Prompto stepped closer and their bodies meshed together again, Cam’s arms locked around his freckled shoulders and fingers combing through his blonde shag, while his hands were on her hips along the waistband of her leather pants. He undid the top button and zipper without trouble.

Her soulmate mark was causing her tremendous pain and once she’d glanced down to ensure she wasn’t gushing blood from an open wound. Prompto used the opportune moment to decorate her exposed jawline with silky kisses, each one sending jolts down her neck and between her legs; her hips pushed against his in response. She felt him, rock hard eagerness hidden in his pants. It made her salivate, reaching down to undo his belt… 

She’d been fighting with the buckle for a moment too long and Prompto went rigid, only causing Cam to speed up in her attempts to get him out of his pants but then his hand was over hers, halting her progress. Confused, Cam leaned back to look at Prompto’s expression.

His eyes were on her right hip, fixated on her marking. His thumb traced the flares that surrounded the orb shape and it felt like a knife’s blade dragging against her skin. It felt wrong.

“I-I can’t do this,” Prompto’s voice creaked, his throat arid and tone defeated. 

Cam pulled his chin so he faced her, her eyes worried. “What’s the matter?”

He sighed. “I know…I know that you’re Gladio’s soulmate.”

“You…” She leaned back a bit to catch her breath, looking at him. “You know…? How, when?”

Prompto rested his hands on the tops of her thighs as he replied. “Since, that day in the market, over two years ago…” He blinked. “We all know. Ignis too, and, so does he.”

Cam’s eyes widened. “T-that’s impossible…”

“Wait…” He bent down to retrieve her shirt and armor, passing it to her and trying not to look at her bra. “You knew?”

Sliding her tanktop back over her head and pulling the ends of her hair free, Cam watched as Prompto bent to grab the articles of clothing he shed. “Yeah, I saw it that day as well…I might have said something, if not for…for Nolan.”

“Right…”

Prompto trailed off, his cheeks blazing red. Cam felt a pang of remorse; now that the hormonal instincts had calmed down she realized how compromised their friendship was. Both of them had initiated the encounter yet Cam couldn’t help but feel responsible. “I’m sorry.”

Smoothing his vest, Prompto looked up, his best attempts at a smile gave off an austere vibe. “It’s okay, I shouldn’t have done that. N-not that I didn’t want to, I-I mean…” He sighed, hands trembling. “I’m gonna go for a drive, I think. Get some air… 

As he made for the exit Cam called his name. Prompto halted and turned back around, eyebrows angled upwards and his look inquiring. She crossed the distance between them and hugged him, slipping her arms underneath his and burying her face in his shoulder. “You’re too good to me.”

Prompto chuckled dryly. “Shut up,” he hummed into her hair.

And then he was gone, shifting free from Cam’s embrace uncomfortably fast and out of the office.

How could she be so careless, acting on impulse and making an attempt on one of her only friends without merit? Fresh tears were gathering at the corners of her eyes but she wiped them on the sleeve of her sweater, straightening her armor as she stepped out of the office. She saw Prompto a fair distance away, getting into one of the loaner trucks and driving off into the tunnel.

Cam checked her phone for the time; 10:32pm. It was late, tomorrow would be an early start to a stressful day, but she couldn’t turn in yet. She needed alcohol to work it’s magic and take her mind off things.

The bar was almost empty, save for a couple cliques of hunters talking with serious tones. News of the nest had spread fast and was the topic of discussion for each of them, suggestions ranging from explosives to cannon firing to wheeling out the spearguns from the behemoth battle. Cam wasn’t exactly in the mood for chatter so she paid for her drink and slid into the booth at the back.

Gladio was seated at the bar, also alone. Whatever, then. She could live and function perfectly fine without a soulmate; She managed just fine up until this point and besides, not everyone had been lucky enough to find theirs in life, hell she didn’t give it a second thought when she met Nolan. Ironic that his marking was a partially waxing crescent moon. Hell, she could function well without anyone, period. She was strong enough to take the world on alone…

No she wasn’t. She was a piss poor liar, even to herself. 

The alcohol had barely settled in her system and it was already talking, it seemed. Cam leaned forward, resting her head in folded arms, a single torn scrap of her beer label curled in front of her. She puffed and blew it across the table.

Was the hunter life really right for her? Recent events seemed to say otherwise. She’d all but lost the ability to handle swords, relying heavily on her pistols. Her toned form had even begun to soften a smidge, the definition in her arms and waist less pronounced. The drive to hunt was also fading, becoming more burden than anything…

Perhaps she should talk to Dave, after the nest problem had been dealt with. That is, if she lived to see after the fact…

It was passed twelve when the last stragglers left, the barkeep tossing Gladio the key and telling him to lock up after he was done, a common practice when other veteran hunters were still sipping on last call. The door shut behind the keeper, and they were alone…

Fuck it. Tomorrow she’d be throwing herself to the wolves anyhow, her completely diminished combat abilities would work against her and she’d be trampled, obliterated by whatever hell spawns that crawled out of that nest thing. Might as well take a stand while she was able to.

Cam swallowed hard, her throat pinched. “So that’s it?” 

He didn’t flinch, staring straight ahead, the rim of his beer bottle between his index finger and thumb. As far as she was concerned she might as well not even be there.. She continued. “Guess this is a monologue, then. I’m sorry for breaking your trust. That, I will wholeheartedly admit was wrong of me.” 

Testing the water, Cam tiptoed closer to Gladio who was still unwavering or acknowledging her presence. “But I won’t apologize for doing what I thought to be right, for trying to help someone in need, like I know you would do if given the opportunity. I was careful, never putting her in a dangerous situation that we couldn’t get out of…” Cam’s voice cracked a bit. “Gladio, she’s your _little sister._ Do you honestly think I’d deliberately put her in harm’s way, without reason? I know what she means to you. I know she’s… all you have left…”

In a moment of bravery, Cam placed her hand on the back of Gladio’s shoulder. Though he was wearing his leather jacket, she could feel his heat seeping into her palm, through the muscle and to her bones. “You, were all that I had left. Just, just know that. I know I don’t have any family but, you were the next best thing. And all that you’ve showed me…” She paused before walking away from him, towards the exit. “…I’m grateful.” 

Only the sound of her footsteps echoed through the empty bar, her boots against the old hardwood loud and hollow. Cam bit her lip to fight through the urge to cry, the urge to be weak, how fucking weak she was right now, though…. 

A bar stool screeched across the floor, and before Cam could turn around he’d had her in his arms, his eyes determined and alive. He stared down at her and she could feel something click inside of her, inside of him. In that moment, something made sense when everything else did not. The breath rushed from her lungs as he all but slammed his lips against hers. 

He kissed her so hard she could feel his teeth through their skin but Astrals be damned; she _needed it._ Like throwing an ignition switch her body was live wire, her mark almost glowing red hot as Gladio’s tongue slipped into her mouth, dancing with hers, connecting them and getting high on his supply. She couldn’t resist; a moan passed through her lips against his and he reacted, grabbing her by the hips and slamming her hard against the opposite wall.

Her tailbone hurt from the impact but _fuck,_ the heat growing between her legs was another story. Gladio pulled back from their kiss and took her in, his gaze like butterscotch as he eyed her up and down. Cam took the moment to shrug the sweater off her shoulders and he thought that was a mighty fine idea, his hands joined behind her back and making quick work of the latches, and just like that she was being undressed for the second time that evening.

Her armor and sweater forgotten on the floor, Gladio’s jacket joining them and Cam tugged at his black tanktop, helping him peel the fitting fabric from his chest. So much of his skin at once was exhilarating and Cam all but leapt up against him, her arms around his neck and her teeth gnawing his bottom lip with hunger she didn’t know existed until the meal was right in front of her. He let out a husky groan and his hips jutted against hers; her vision hazed in response.

Suddenly Cam felt a surge of raw madness, overcoming her ability to think and stemming from nowhere. The source was soon revealed, as Gladio hoisted her hips up against the wall, forcing her legs apart and he grabbed a light fixture next to them, ripping it from the wall in one fluid motion, drywall dust and peeled wallpaper flying everywhere. The action didn’t frighten Cam in the slightest; She leaned into him and grazed her teeth along his ear, her breath against the sensitive flesh making him purr hotly.

His hands were tugging at her leather pants and she leaned back, giving him access to undo them but he skipped the zipper altogether, grabbing the waistband and yanking her pants and underwear down to her knees. Cam shrieked from the surprise but helped by stepping out of her boots. When he got on his knees and hoisted her bare legs over his shoulders, he dove into her sex without hesitation and she cried out his name.

Gladio wasted no time coaxing her into submission, rendering her a hot mess against the wall and just _what the hell_ was she supposed to grab onto to hold herself up? Did he realize the position she was in, essentially wall-sitting on his face, his hands gripping her bottom without issue. Cam could only see fit to rake her fingers through his shag of espresso hair, holding on for dear life as he began to suck on her clit. Her abdomen quivered and she teetered helplessly, chest heaving with each ragged breath that clawed out her throat, tiny mewls as his tongue slipped inside of her. She could feel her slick spreading against her thighs, a flush of pink to her cheeks at the thought of how his face must be soaked, yet he seemed more than willing to satiate his appetite with her.

Cam’s hips bucked against his face and she nearly fell over but he set her back on her feet, standing to deliver one hell of a kiss. She liked how she tasted in his mouth. Her hands found themselves undoing his belt before she was aware of what she was doing and Gladio paused, pulling away to watch her work. She was so fucking eager to touch him; before the belt was out of it’s hinge she had his pants unbuttoned and a hand shoved into his boxer briefs, already tugging at his shaft.

Gladio let out a hiss of breath, his hips jutting forward against her palm and he pushed his pants out of the way of his cock, exposing his length to her. Cam pumped her hand up and down the length, looking up at him with yearning, with lust, her own honey amber eyes alit at the sight of him. He looked to consider something for a fraction of a second before lifting her against the wall once more, pressing his hips into hers. Cam was there to guide his length home, parting her folds with the head and pushing him inside before her body weight sank onto him and her head lulled back in ecstasy.

A heady, blissful sigh fell from Gladio’s lips as he supported her with one hand, the other against the wall as he thrust inside of Cam, the sensation of her silken tautness almost pulling him inside of her and it was too much, too much for him to bear; His grabbed the jagged edge of the broken drywall and he yanked, exerting the buildup of energy welling in his muscles by ripping the wall asunder. He never missed a beat though, hammering away at her, and with no holds barred as he slammed into Cam hard and fast, animalistic growls snarling in his throat.

The pure unrestricted nature of her soulmate before her, fucking her with all he had to give drove Cam into a euphoric state, and she couldn’t help but let her hand slip between them to finger her clit furiously, watching Gladio’s cock slide all the way in and nearly all the way out, expertly timed lunges driving inside and hitting her where no one has been able to before. He filled her so goddamn well; the Astrals had assigned such a perfect fit.

It was almost out of anger how he worked at undoing her completely, his thrusts with so much force that her pelvis was getting sore but she didn’t see fit to complain; Cam never felt more alive in her life, a new fire blazing within her being that radiated to her toes.

Gladio could almost sense the mild discomfort Cam was experiencing so he slowed and pulled out, the sudden void between her legs almost more painful than her hips. He pulled her towards the bar and with one sweeping motion, slid dozens of glasses and his empty beer bottle off the top, the shattering glass deafening at one point. He lifted Cam up and on top of the bar before climbing up with her, snaking his way between her legs. She ran her hands down the valleys of his chest, rising and falling with his breath and Gladio tugged at her tank top. She peeled it from her upper half and before it hit the ground, Gladio ripped her bra open to expose her small breasts. He paid those no mind, setting his sights on something more monumental.

In a motion that made Cam’s heart flutter for the first time in forever, Gladio dipped his head to her right hip and kissed her soulmate marking with such gravity and significance that she nearly choked up. Amber eyes flicked up to hers, and he ran his hands up her body, rising up to kiss her already swollen mouth.

Instinctively, Cam reached to where he wore the same skin deep marking, the slightly raised patch of skin blazing beneath her fingertips; She felt him smile against her lips.

Pulling his hips against hers, she urged him back inside of her; he was there before she needed to coax him any further, the fullness she’d needed even more satisfying than before. Gladio steeled himself on his forearms and resumed his ministrations, the rhythm of his thrusts almost in time with their rapid heart rates. He leaned into the crook of Cam’s neck and pressed heavy kisses to her skin, sucking and biting at it, setting her on fire and letting the blaze burn out of control. Her legs wrapped around his hips and she locked her arms around his neck, needing him so close to her it began to hurt…

Needing him there. Needing him alive. 

_Needing him for eternity._

As they built towards their ascending releases, something shifted in the fibres of their makeups and Cam nearly blacked out from the sudden onset of pressure, unfolding like an atomic bomb in her soul and engrossing her mortal shell until all that was left was a pleasant, warm tingle on the surface of her skin.

It felt…like _sunlight._

Gladio lifted his head suddenly and kissed Cam with enough passion to revive someone on the brink of death, and…she could feel it, what he felt…

Cam was nearing climax with haste from the overwhelming emotions and Gladio was right there with her, slipping a hand between them to help her get to where she needed to go. It didn’t take much effort; seconds later Cam let out a muffled cry and her orgasm hit like shockwaves to the ends of her hair, her inner muscles pulsating to bring Gladio’s release to fruition deep inside of her, the raspy groan that punctuated his finish the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard.

Careful not to let his body weight crush her, Gladio leaned on top of Cam and pressed their foreheads together. Panting, he smiled a smile that she’d sworn could restore light to all of Eos. “Why…why didn’t we do that sooner?”

His question made Cam let out a breathy chuckle and she craned her neck up to kiss him, a feather-light touch that made her knees shake. He was still inside of her and she gave a playful little tighten around his softening length. He hummed in response.

They were perfectly synced souls, the bind they’d forged unbreakable as their will. Cam felt his heartbeat, timed exactly to hers, his lungs fill with air as hers exhaled. She looked into his eyes as he reached up to trace the scar along her left cheek.

“Don’t die tomorrow,” she whispered. 

“We need to do that again.”


	20. Battering Ram

Cam woke pleasantly sore, her five AM alarm blaring beneath her pillow.

She’d meant to turn over and grab her phone, but something - someone, was holding her midsection from behind, heat seeping through her tanktop and underwear. Contented realization set in and Gladio’s arm tightened around her, stirring from sleep. The bunk was small so space was unheard of; Cam nudged his considerable bicep up a bit and flipped onto her other side to face him, his facial features only just distinguishable in the near pitch darkness. He seemed to hesitate a moment as if questioning what side of reality he was conscious in, but then he pressed a single, imperative kiss on Cam’s lips. Gladio leaned back and observed her, appreciated her.

Fell for her.

“Hi,” he croaked, voice still laden with sleep.

Cam brushed her foot up his calf. “Hi.”

She silenced her alarm and was reminded of why she’d even set it in the first place. Today they’d have put their lives on the line, go toe to toe with something she’d never even heard of, and from the sounds of the discussions at the bar the night before neither had anyone else. Gladio seemed to land on the same page and he too came to the astute realization of what the day had in store for them.

They dressed at unhurried pace, stealing glances at each other’s bodies not out of suggestive intent but to engrave into memory. To remember them, should the need arise and they find themselves one short of a pair. The possibility made Cam’s throat bunch up, going so long without her other half only to lose them so soon…

No, it wouldn’t be an option. They’d go down together and though no words were spoken between them to affirm it, Cam knew in her heart and mind Gladio was in agreeance. Besides, she’d already lived through losing one love of her life; she didn’t have it in her to survive another. 

Gladio helped with the back buckles of her leather armor, latching each one methodically and with unwillingness. An approaching fight at the estimated magnitude would typically get him restless, anxious to let adrenaline overthrow his awareness and expel the pent-up frustrations and energy. But now? “We could just, y’know,” he began, fastening the last latch at the base of Cam’s neck, “hop in the Jeep and take off. Get away from here, for good.”

Cam sighed. “No, no we can’t.” She pulled on her leather gloves, followed by the bracers that Greyson bought her for her first hunt. “It’s…a nice thought, though.” 

Gladio stepped in front of her, his expression softer than she’d ever seen before. It gathered warmth in her chest and her marking tingled pleasantly beneath her skin. “Tell you what. We survive this mess, we’ll get away from here for a while, just us.” He tucked a stray curl that escaped her loose ponytail behind her ear. “Figure we got some uhh, catching up to do.” 

“Best idea you’ve ever had.”

The pair left the barracks and headed towards the food vendors to meet up with their friends before the final preparations took place. On the way Gladio stopped by the bar, tacking an envelope stuffed with a couple thousand gil for repairs and a hastily scrawled apology note on the inside door. He gave Cam a sheepish look as they grabbed two Ebony’s and split some rations for breakfast, joining Ignis and Greyson at a table.

While Ignis seemed as sullen as he had been from the night before, arms folded and head down, Greyson was quick to assess the situation. “Someone seems chipper for impending chaos,” he remarked, raising an eyebrow to Cam.

She attempted obliviousness, sipping her piping hot coffee and chewing on the rim of the paper cup. “What do you mean?”

“It’s almost five-thirty in the morning and you’re smiling,” Greyson replied, skepticism heavy in his voice. “You get lucky or somethin’?”

Beside her, Gladio nearly choked on his mouthful of food and Ignis’s head snapped to attention, his sudden keen interest making Cam flinch. Both her and Gladio didn’t respond, staring back at Greyson with matched chagrin. At their silence, his eyes widened. “Wait, really? You two?!” 

Cam rolled her eyes and sipped her Ebony. Without her protest, their fate was sealed. Greyson’s superfluous grin was unnerving. “Shit, you actually did it. Huh. NICE.”

At Gladio’s unappreciative glare he got up from his chair so quick the legs jutted loudly. “I uhh, need to grab me one of those,” he mumbled nodding to Cam’s coffee cup before scurrying off. “Back in a bit!”

Moments after Greyson left, Ignis piped up with heavy intrigue. “Is it true?”

Gladio sighed to his friend. “Hmmph.”

Ignis’s responding satisfied smirk was enough to make Cam’s cheeks flush; she was cynically glad he couldn’t see it. “Gladio is bonded to another human being,” he mused, leaning his elbows on the table. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“Oh, please,” Gladio tossed his empty coffee cup in the nearby waste bin, “don’t be so dramatic.”

“I’m more relieved than anything,” Ignis replied, though his head lowered tucking his chin to his chest. “Despite your, poor timing.”

Cam scuffed her boots against the table leg. “Had to remind us, huh? Apologies in advance guys, but I for one will be a sitting duck out there. Can barely get a quick-shot in anymore…Pretty sure my blades have rusted by now…” Cam exhaled, the tension rolling off of her in waves. Gladio nudged her knee with his own and offered her a commiserating look.

An almost audible connection snapped in Ignis’s mind and he looked up again. “But of course, that explains it! How could I have overlooked the fact you two are soulmates…”

Cam frowned. “What about it?”

Ignis turned to her and she could almost see her reflection in his tinted lenses, the feathered edges of the scarring on his left eye giving her a sense of brooding. “You’d be willing to admit you…excelled _exceptionally well_ in your training, correct?” 

There was no arguing fact. “Almost too well, yeah. I figured it was because this guy was such a hard-ass on me,” she elbowed Gladio in the forearm and he impishly chewed his lip.

“Gladio had to undergo intense training since _childhood_ to develop the reflexes, strengths and knowledge that’s become second nature to him today,” Ignis remarked in the shield’s general direction before turning back to Cam. “You, on the other hand, were exhibiting the same characteristics within weeks. Would you say your, _skills,_ had begun to deteriorate once you’d been apart for some time, not to mention after your slight falling out?”

Disconcerting realization began to soak into Cam’s brain. “Almost exactly at that point, yeah…” 

A self-satisfactory smirk tugged the corner of Ignis’s mouth. “His soul, the soul of a warrior through and through with unparalleled combat abilities and over a decade of experience…was influencing you, changing you, accelerating the learning process and molding you into a seasoned fighter in just over a month. Couple that with a desire to learn and unbreakable will, and that…is a force to be reckoned with.” 

It made sense, Cam thought. Only fitting that her other half assigned by the God’s above have such a deep impact on her. Ignis spoke again before she could comment. “And might I say, Gladio was more approachable, reasoning and mild-mannered than I can recall him ever being in the countless years we’ve been acquainted. A bigger feat, in my books.”

“Oh, please,” Gladio grumbled, though Cam caught a slight twinge of a grin pulling his mouth to the side. So she really did have an affect on him…

“Your knowledge of soulmates is impressive,” Cam offered. “How? Why?”

“Well,” Ignis’s softened and his drastic features seemed to lose some of their age, a childlike wonder that never left the young man despite years and hardships passing. “My mother was keen on the subject and it was the topic of many a bedtime stories. Not to mention since finding my other half, I’ve become so much more interested in the workings of soulmates, the way each pair can differ from another, be influenced so uniquely, such as you two are.”

Cam was grateful to know someone with such expertise on the subject. Sure she’d known what the sun on her hip meant since childhood, but up until she saw Gladio in the market that day the notion had barely crossed her mind…

Her thoughts resumed to the situation at-hand. “Do you think I’d be able to hold my own again in combat, soon?”

Ignis considered it. “Well, since you two are now… _bound,_ ” he paused, as if to impart gravity in that word, “I’m curious as to how quickly you can pick up on one another’s traits once more. It may be worth toting both firearms and melee weapons in today’s battle, if you can handle it. Should the will to exert more up-close and personal combat be roused in you, you can test the waters with actual foes.” 

“Good idea,” Cam replied, standing from her seat and checking her phone for the time; 5:45. The meeting would be taking place soon, but she had time to go grab her swords. “I’ll be right back.”

Walking away from the pair, Cam heard a chair squeak against the hardwood. Gladio fell into step beside her and she gave him a puzzled look. “Miss me already?”

“I just,” He sighed, closing his eyes and taking her hand. “Just need to be close to you. I’ve gone too long avoiding it, and now…” He stopped her, bringing his arms around her shoulders and resting his chin on her head. “Now I feel like it…may be too late for, for this…for us…”

Cam could sense his concern and she hugged him back, snaking her arms around his back and holding him close. She pressed a kiss to the centre of his chest and exhaled. “I know. We have to try, though. For everyone.” She tilted her head up, two pairs of amber eyes connecting between them. “For a future.”

Gladio swallowed hard and nodded. “Right.”

Her blades sheathed behind her back and guns at her hip, Cam and Gladio headed to the office for the debriefing with the other veteran hunters and higher ranks. Ignis was there already, speaking with Cor and Greyson near the front of the room where the whiteboard was on display, a jumble of diagrams and what Cam could only guess to be pathways or trails leading to the nest. A detailed sketch was pinned to the top of the board; Pyramid in shape, black and roughly the size of an apartment building. It loomed atop a hill, in a clearing with daemons filing from an entrance in the side in succession.

Cam gulped, nervously bouncing her knee when she took a seat next to Gladio and Ignis. The veteran hunters had arrived, and Dave was just getting off the phone with someone when-

“Where’s Prompto?” Asked Ignis.

Regret swelled in Cam’s throat, but before she could say anything the blonde peeked in the doorframe and strolled in, an obviously forced smile on his freckled face. He sat across from them, one of two empty seats left and nodded at Cam. She nodded back, an apologetic smile forcing her lips into a strange line.

“All here?” Dave asked, standing before the whiteboard.

“Steph’s not here yet,” one of the hunters noted. “Her car’s been gone since last night as well, I think.”

Cam’s eyebrows furrowed. What was she up to…?

Dave sighed. “Guess we’ll go on without her.” He turned to the whiteboard. “Alright, first things first. We’ve had the night shift rangers line the path leading to the nest with flags, and we have someone on standby with a truck to help transport people to and from. As mentioned previously, we’ll be dividing our numbers up into shifts. Three shifts of seven to ten people, and we’ll be able to manage rests, hydration and first aid or weapon swapping.”

Cor stepped forward and pulled a folded piece of paper from his jacket. “First shift will be under my command. Amicitia, Argentum, Kessler, Phillips, Reynolds and Scientia.” 

As each of their names were called, Gladio, Prompto, one of the veteran hunters, Greyson, Cam and Ignis stood. Cam felt a knot forming in her gut; she wasn’t ready for this, for the frontline, so soon, but she pushed passed it and awaited further instruction. “We’ll head out in ten,” Cor announced. “Meet by the armored vehicle at the west gate.”

Cor ducked out, a phone pressed to his ear to make a call. Dave took over manning the meeting. “I was going to have Mallory command the secondary shift-” Cam tensed at the mention of Steph’s surname, “-however given the fact she is AWOL I’ll request Seidler’s assistance.”

“Will do, sir,” the young veteran agreed, nodding with purpose. Dave listed off the names of the other shifts, seeming to place the lesser-ranked and newer recruits in the second and third shifts. That meant…

“We’re the battering ram,” Ignis muttered under his breath in Cam’s direction. “They’re sending in their best men first to break the front lines.”

She gave him a bleary look. “Fantastic.”

Dave wrapped up the meeting and they filed out of the office. Outside, the initiates and lower ranking hunters were awaiting assignment to their designated shifts. Gladio, Cam, Greyson, Prompto, Ignis and the additional veteran hunter all headed for the armored vehicle as requested, Cor still on the phone with someone as he paced back and forth next to the rear hatch. As they approached, the Marshal ended the call and lifted the back door up and open. “Ready to head out?” 

The group glanced back and forth at one another, heavy expressions in their eyes. Cam slipped her hand into Gladio’s, lacing their fingers together as she looked up at him.

Her soulmate. Her sun.

She felt courage swell within her, the courage to take on whatever the broken world of ruin would throw at them. 

“Ready.”


	21. Madness

The drive was long and winded up and around into the northern reaches behind Hunter HQ, the incline making for an uncomfortable ride in the armored truck. Cam, Gladio, Ignis, Prompto, Greyson and the veteran hunter named Reese, sat in the back cab of the truck while Cor rode up front with the driver. The group in the back kept quiet, the absolute uncertainty of the situation leaving little room for idle chatter. Even Greyson, who usually found opportunity to speak his mind at even the worst of times was keeping to himself, staring at his boots like the rest of them. 

Except Cam. She couldn’t take her eyes off of Gladio, sitting across from her with his elbows on his thighs and a tired look of defeat already hardening the edge of his brow. It bothered her, not because it seemed like he was being cynical before they even got to kill anything, but because she could feel what he felt; the frustration at not knowing what they were up against, the self-conscious notion that he may not be strong enough for what lie ahead, that he may let his friends and comrades down, that he may let her down…the fear of how abruptly she became everything to him. The fear of losing her… He didn’t shy away from it, though being bound to someone took some getting used to.

The truck pulled onto level ground, slowed and came to a stop. They rose to their feet and a moment later Cor had hoisted the door hatch up and was there to greet them with a frown, his right hand gripping the hilt of his sheathed katana. “Are you ready for this?”

Six heads nodded in unison; The Marshal scowled, an almost angry wash over his face. “Give me your word, or give me nothing at all.”

“Ready,” They bellowed, and with that Cor stepped aside to let the hunters hop out.

Cam had to look around to spot it, as a narrow thicket of trees stood before them and nothing more, but she could see the very tip of it peeking over the peaks of the treetops; a sharp black pinnacle against the sickly muddled greenish-pitch that was the everlasting darkness. Her insides were jarring.

The Marshal lead the way down a freshly beaten path. Off to the side Dino was stationed already in the back of a supply van, the rear doors swung open and awaiting patients. With impeccable timing a hunter hobbled out of the woods, clutching his hand over his ear though it did little to stop the flow of blood that seeped between his fingers. Dino came alive, tossing his magazine to the side and yanking out some gauze and iodine. “Jaysus, Fin! I oughta give’ya a punch card, seventh injury is free!”

The frontline single-filed their way through the woods, Cam following Ignis and Gladio close behind. The sounds of combat could be heard in the distance, death cries of daemons and sprites of the night, weapons clanking against enameled exoskeletons and men, the sound of men, frantic and shouting and pained…

Cam swallowed hard. Did they assign enough people to their group? There was so much chaos in the mix that it sounded like an army of death spawns were awaiting their arrival. She looked back over her shoulder to Gladio. “You got my back?”

His shoulders steeled, tenacity in his expression but with a softness he’d only allowed her to see. “Always.”

“Same.” 

The treeline was thinning and Cam could begin to make out the combat up ahead, metal blades glinting against the light from a sole battery-operated spotlight near the trail edge, erratic movements of limbs and bodies in fatal dances of destruction. But as they exited the forest and into the wide clearing to join the lunacy, Cam stopped cold.

Looming over the scene before them sat what could only be the nest. A mammoth construct so black and dark it seemed to swallow the little light around them, so impressive in stature Cam had to crane her neck back a bit to see the peak. It leeched such thick foreboding and despair, a tangible miasma, a malevolent aura radiating from its outer walls. Above all what was most notable was the spike in temperature; an almost humid, blazing heat wave fanned from the pyramid shaped structure and washed over them and already Cam could feel it get to her. It was like the power plant all over again.

And then from a gaping maw in the side of it, three necromancers shot into the fray. 

The hunters currently locked in battle could find no suitable safe escape, and so the Marshal raised his hand to give the order. He offered a moment of respite, the only one they know they’d find for a long time coming, and then -

“Attack!”

Like flipping a switch the group came to life, moving off in their own directions yet sharing an invisible link, always keen to the other’s positions, always steadfast in their guard. Cam unholstered her pistols, flicked the safeties off and unloaded her clips into the nearest thing that wasn’t human. Prompto flanked her, firing exactly in between her shots so the enemy was gifted with nearly automatic fire. And just as Cam’s clips were empty, Prompto flung two fresh ones her way; she jammed them into the chambers, rinse and repeat. 

Out of the corner of her eye Greyson was dealing blow after blow cleaving through the swarms of daemons, his massive battleaxe like a pendulum of death as it swept them off their feet and made them flinch. Cor was right there to deal the fatalities one after the other, eliminating a handful of them in seconds flat. Unfortunately as soon as they finished them off more were waiting in the wings to pick up where they left off.

Most surprising of all was Ignis. His complete lack of vision didn’t render him a sitting duck; the tactician moved with remarkable, lethal grace despite dealing with his own darkness, each swipe of his daggers hitting paydirt and flaying the skin of his foes. Once he’d swapped out for a polearm to help vanquish a small naga hatchling, though small in this case meant still towering over them, but his lance made quick work of eviscerating the serpentine creature in minutes flat. And once the foe was felled, Ignis adjusted his tinted lenses as if only the wind had knocked them off-center.

And right on que, there he was. Gladio slammed into a hoard of bashuras like a freight train, overhead cleaves of his great sword coming down and obliterating their skulls while his sideways slashes nearly decapitated the ones who survived the first hit. He was easily the messiest of the bunch as well, his armor slick with daemon blood, droplets peppering his skin like freckles-

“Hey, earth to Cam,” Prompto called, body-checking her back into the moment as a hurdle of imps tag-teamed the pair of sharpshooters. She readied to fire at them once more, but something demanded her attention from her peripherals. She backed away from the enemies, drawing them away from Prompto whilst trying to get a better view of the reason for her distraction.

Red. in a sea of darkness, death and dissolution, a swatch of red mane that whipped wildly in the heatwave emanating from the nest.

_All too familiar red._

Cam’s vision blurred for a fraction of a second, pure rage welling in her mouth like a venom as something began to snap into place at the base of her brain stem. She had to deal with the problems at hand first, the imps ripe to overwhelm Prompto at any given moment and so she slid on her hip against the ground, nailing each one with an expertly-placed head shot. They toppled over like dominoes, one right after the other. “Hell yeah!” Prompto marveled, reloading his clip and sidestepping near Greyson to cover his blind spot.

Unfortunately Cam lost sight of the redhead. She exhaled returning to the onslaught of daemons, their numbers only increasing to the point Cam need only shoot into the open to be guaranteed a hit without even aiming. They were vastly outnumbered. They needed more force…

Another sharp snap that locked in right below the first, above the first vertebrae in her neck like a capsule breaking and leaking a substance into her bloodstream. Again her vision blurred, the faintest tint of red near the edges of her field of vision like an aura. In the surrounding brawl and discord, Cam’s focus homed in on a necromancer several yards away, reeling back to deliver a petrification spell, it’s target: Ignis.

Cam sprang into action, her guns at the ready and firing on all cylinders as she sprinted towards the daemon. Each bullet hit its mark, but it wasn’t enough to interrupt it’s spell casting. _FUCK-_

And then it happened. Like live wire threading through the very marrow of her bones, pulsating through to her muscle memory, jump starting it back to life…it returned. The will to fight, the undiluted adrenaline.

The power.

In a singular motion, Cam slammed the pistols back into their holsters, grit her teeth and reached above her head behind her back, unsheathing her swords. 

_Reborn._

An earth shattering war cry erupted from Cam’s lungs as she rushed the necromancer, seconds from letting the spell off towards the blind man. She may not make it- “IGNIS!” Cam cried. “DOWN!” 

Without hesitation, Ignis dashed to the side and ducked just about out of the daemon’s line of sight. It wouldn’t matter, though; Cam’s blades came to life, her arms buffeting like a propeller as she struck the enemy and it flinched, just in time to send the spell skywards and into the black. She reeled back and swiped, slashed, carving into the daemon with each blow ripping life from its form. It didn’t stand a chance; seconds later the necromancer all but disintegrated into a musty powder, blown to the wind without a trace.

Gladio caught sight of her and couldn’t help but give her a massive grin. “Atta girl,” he hollered over the tin of shouting and animalistic daemon cries.

Back in her element and completely berserk, Cam let her instincts take over as she hammered into daemon after daemon, their blood coating her blades and armor in a dark sheen, the sour tang of it all her new perfume. It matted in her hair and soaked into her pores but she didn’t care; she was high on the endorphins, tapping the soul of a warrior, the soul of a fighter. It fused immaculately to her own, not completely rewriting her makeup but making her _better._  

Gladio’s soul. Her soul.

One.

She eliminated numerous foes and was midway through another when Cor spoke over the pandemonium surrounding them. “Pull back! Regroup!”

Cam set out to do just that, dealing a deathblow to another baby naga when suddenly…

To her left, the veteran hunter Reese was standing still as if he were being restrained. He struggled against an invisible tether, his arms unable to lift from their sides. Before he could speak, a massive purple fireball collided with his chest and he dropped to the earth, unconscious.

Cam rushed to his aid, sliding on her knees at his limp form. She flipped him over but his skin was scorching, like touching a hot burner on the stove. She eased him onto his back using her elbows…and immediately wished she hadn’t.

His eyes were melting out of their sockets, white streams down bloodless cheeks, undoubtedly dead.

Cam flinched and stood too quickly, not taking note of her surroundings.

Steph was standing before her, face void of any emotion. She carried no weapons, nothing, and yet-

Cam was frozen in place, unable to move her limbs.

Oh no, _OH NO…_

Attempting to call out to the others she tried to yell but no sound came out, only air.

The faintest smirk pulled at the corners of Steph’s crimson lips. “Cat got your tongue?” she mused.

And then Cam was being pulled towards the pyramid, towards the damnable entrance, the gaping maw like a doorway to Hell. the air was so hot against her skin it felt like an open flame.

Cam had no control of her actions, numb and helpless under Steph’s spell. All she could do was watch helplessly as her friends fought for their lives against unmatched quantities of daemons…

…And Gladio, sprinting towards the nest and screaming her name, just as the maw began to close behind them.


	22. Purgatory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Graphic violence, blood

_“CAMMMM!”_

Gladio called her name through the caverns of the nest, sound reverberating off of the walls that made up the inner workings, narrow hallways that felt like a labyrinth. Cam was being dragged behind Steph, her backside grazing the stone floors and arms over her head, invisible ties that bound her wrists together so tight her hands felt like they were pulsating. She couldn’t feel, couldn’t speak, numb to everything but the hellfire heat that made perspiration leak into her eyes.

His cries grew distant though the despair in his voice could be heard loud and clear. “CAM! Where are you?! _CAAMMmmmm…..”_

It faded after several minutes, the only sounds the percussion of the redhead’s heels and the muffled daemon clamors surrounding them. Steph pulled Cam on her tether akin to a stubborn dog at the end of a leash, and though she attempted to dig her heels into the stone floor to halt them, but it had no effect.

The ground shifted and they began a descent down a ramp. The heat was building still like bringing a pot of water to a boil and making Cam’s blood pressure rise. She needed to break free, but how? Attempting to sway the woman off balance, Cam rocked her back and hips sideways until her legs were flailing side to side. Sure enough Steph stumbled, but steadied herself and cracked the tether like a whip, causing Cam’s wrists to incur a violent bend at the joint.

At a corridor in the declining path she found an opportunity, though she had only one shot at making it work. As Steph rounded the corner and gave the ties another quick tug this time seemingly out of pure spite, Cam jutted her foot out to the side and clipped the corner. 

It worked; Steph teetered off-balance and dropped hold of Cam, the hex failing and she reacted by kicking the redhead’s legs out from underneath her. She landed hard against the stone floor and slid down the incline to a half-wall, glaring daggers back at Cam before back-flipping up and over the side to the lower level.

Wringing out the soreness the ties caused around her wrists, Cam got a running start and hoisted herself over the edge, uncertain as to how high of a drop she had but dead-set on keeping her target closeby. She free-fell for a second and a half and landed on her feet.

A strange ambient crimson light emanated from the walls with an otherworldly glow. It bathed everything in a violent shade of red, a foreboding that seeped into Cam’s perspiration-coated pores. Steph stood motionless in the center of the room, poised to pounce at a moment’s notice. “Your interferences are exasperating,” she remarked, staring the brunette down from across the room. 

Cam narrowed her eyes. “Interferences? With what, killing my friends? I saw the photos on your phone, your ‘targets,’ as you label them.”

“Not polite to be snooping where you shouldn’t, Reynolds.” 

“You’re one to talk!” Cam cracked in retort, recalling all too well the photos that went missing from her phone. The impish grin she offered in response sealed her fate.

Cam took a few reluctant steps forward. “You’re an assassin, aren’t you?”

Steph threw her head back and let out a condescending laugh, her cackles magnified in volume off the walls surrounding them. “I’m what goes bump in the night. I’m what you’re fighting everyday to rid Eos of. I’m the Messenger of Death under _His_ command…” Steph took slow strides towards Cam, radiating pure hatred and hostility. As she neared her Cam’s blood froze despite the heat as the whites of Steph’s scleras went pitch black, her voice lowering to an inhuman growl. 

“I’m here.. _.to end you._ ”

And then Steph began to transform, her once comely physique mutating into a monster. Black oozing spikes erupted from her spine and her limbs stretched into sickly overgrown, skeletal structures, a secondary joint appearing near her ankles to develop lupine haunches. Her armor split at the sides as her ribcage expanded, more spikes jutting down her front as thick talons split the skin at her fingers. Cam watched in horrified silence as razor-sharp fangs popped her human teeth from their gums, strands of black ooze and saliva webbing between them.

Steph turned into a daemon of hellish proportions, reared back and let out a deafening banshee screech. A pause as she studied Cam for a fraction of a second, and then she launched forward with her talons raised.

Cam reacted in the nick of time; Her blades parried the attack and Steph was left wide open for a counter to the ribs which Cam delivered with a hefty thwart. Her bones had to be enhanced, the metallic sound the impact made like steel on steel and she seemed completely unphased. She swiped again, this time at Cam’s torso and caught the edge of her shoulder, splitting the leather of her armor and barely grazing her skin.

It felt like a cat’s scratch, but Cam’s reflexes got the rude awakening they deserved; She bounded backwards sidestepping away from the daemon and tried to kite it around the area. Steph wasn’t having any of it. She rushed Cam and slammed into her full-frontal, knocking the woman back until she slammed into the wall, hard. She struggled to get the air back in her lungs but before she could normalize the daemon’s talons were striking from above. Another close call as Cam blocked the assault, her swords crossed in an X above her head.

Steph pushed against her parry, unheard of strength causing Cam’s arms to shake beneath the black talons that threatened to gouge her eyes out if she slipped up. She grit her teeth and ducked out from under the claws, shuddering at the scraping sounds they made against the floor. Steph displayed a moment of weakness recovering from the blocked attack and Cam took it, swiping each blade against the daemon’s spined back. 

Her swords made it through a couple and the gargled cries that escaped Steph’s throat indicated how much it must have hurt. Relieved to have made some progress, Cam took a moment to watch in satisfied, greedy self-appreciation as Steph flailed in anguish.

A moment she couldn’t spare. 

In an action that defied logic, Steph’s midsection swiveled a complete one-eighty to face her and a talon sliced into her left thigh, delivering a deep cut straight to the muscle.

Cam howled in agony as she was knocked down, her pant leg split to reveal a nasty red wound that was bleeding uncomfortably fast, welling in the gash and wetting the surrounding fabric and leather. Cam’s brain was screaming for her to move, to watch the fuck out as Steph was readying another deathblow. She raised a sword to deflect it and though successful, already Cam could feel the strength sapping from her. She rose to her feet, startled by the feeling of the blood spilling down her leg but she swallowed hard, determined to finish this once and for all.

In her mind, Gladio’s voice urged her to focus, find the flaw, finish the job. His words of wisdom from their training sessions on repeat in her mind: _Everything has a weak spot. Find it._

Cam observed in almost slow motion how Steph moved, searching for the chink in her armor, the sweet spot, the loose strand to tug and undo her.

She fixated on the only fleshy part of the daemon, right where her arm connected to her torso. 

_Bingo._

Mustering up the emergency stores of her energy, Cam let out an angered cry as she rushed Steph, cleaving both of her swords down one after the other at the daemon’s shoulder.

It worked. Stephs arm was separated entirely from her body, flying backwards and sliding across the floor as it twitched madly and the demonic, beastlike shriek that threatened to make Cam’s eardrums explode began to wane unsettlingly into a very human voice… 

In seconds flat the daemon transformed back into the now morbidly disfigured body of Steph, and she collapsed against the rock flooring with a thud. She was crying, muttering something over and over like a madman’s chant.

Curious, Cam ducked down to the wounded woman, her clothing split and doing little to provide any dignity. She grabbed Cam with her only remaining hand and wailed at her. “Kill me… please…”

She was pleading, begging. Startled, Cam was frozen in place, her eyes never leaving the icy blue irises that seemed to be much kinder than she’d ever imagined them before. “Kill me, before h-he takes control again…please, grant me this mercy…”

Cam’s mouth fell open and she stammered, confused, trying to prop the woman up. “W-what the hell are you talking-”

“PLEASE!” Steph all but yelled at her with the little strength she had left. “KILL ME. FREE ME.” 

A heavy burden was thrown onto Cam’s plate and she had little time to decide, but the absolute fear in Steph’s eyes, the trust, sealed her fate. As forgiving as she could given the circumstances, Cam sank her sword into Steph’s chest, burying it to the hilt and holding her upright. The woman sighed almost blissfully, the faintest smile on her lips. “T-thank you…” 

Steph slumped forward, her eyes closed, her chest falling on her last breath taken. 

Abrupt realization of the situation hammered Cam’s conscious; she’d essentially committed murder, though the beseeching nature of her last request still confused her. Cam freed her sword from Steph’s corpse, sheathing it with all too weak arms, her leg sticky and soaked to her sock with blood.

As she tried to stand, all light suddenly disappeared from the room. A strange presence made the hairs on her neck stand at attention, a bitter chill overtaking the hellfire heating. She wanted so badly to just get off of her feet, feeling faint and dizzy from the blood loss. She limped forward, uncertain where the exit was…

_“How unfortunate…she made a wonderful puppet.”_

A male voice Cam had never heard before grated at her skull, the sickly undertone like cloying honey for a fly; inviting but lethal, trapping them. She swayed, pressing a hand to her wound to try and close it.

The voice spoke again. _“I must admit you’ve managed to impress even myself, however insignificant you are in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps I can sway your interest in joining my cause…”_

The air shifted behind Cam and she froze, feeling a sudden presence;

she wasn’t alone.

Cam steeled herself as best as she could despite her weakened state. “Who are you?”

The light returned to the room and a man stood before her, dressed in eclectic garb, brushing maroon locks from his face. 

_“A man…of no consequence.”_

Gladio bounded through the corridors, out of breath and exhausted from rerunning the maze that was the inner workings of the nest. The heat was depleting his energy as sweat dripped freely from his brow. No sign of Cam anywhere. Steph had dragged her into a hidden area, one of which Gladio couldn’t access or couldn’t find at least. The almost nonexistent lighting was making him delirious. He was trapped.

“CAAAAAMMMM!” he shouted her name again, though it was laden with cracks and off-pitch from repeated abuse. 

All hope was bleak. Gladio’s marking began to ache, a dull pain of longing to see her, alive and well and not here, anywhere but here… 

 

“You’re a murderer, that’s what.”

Cam’s tone was intentionally icy, grating him like sandpaper. He smiled, hazel eyes sweeping over her vulnerability. _“I guess that makes the two of us. Though she begged for purgatory, unable to handle my…charm, any longer.”_

He circled her and Cam couldn’t hold out any longer; She slumped to her knees, her injured leg jutting out to the side. She fought to keep her head up. “What…why, would you want them dead? What d-did they ever do to you?”

_“Ah ah ah!”_ He tutted melodically, a painfully cold hand lifting her chin up to bore his eyes straight into hers, straight into her soul. _“Too many questions and you’re already on borrowed time. I worry, will you hold out until your friend arrives?”_  

_Gladio._

Cam frowned. “Where is he?”

The man smiled condescendingly down to her. _“He’ll be along.”_ He tilted and turned her face side to side, examining her like a specimen, his thumb grazing the edge of her scar. _“My word, you bear a remarkable resemblance to the King’s shield…”_ his voice trailed off as he brought his face inches from hers, so close Cam could see the flecks of stubble that peppered his jawline, the deep blacks of his pupils that seemed too liquid, too deep… 

_“Similar, though… you’re missing something.”_

And then the man was brandishing a knife.

 

Traversing as best as he could down the incline he’d tripped on, Gladio neared a half-wall when suddenly an agonizing scream erupted from the level below, brimming with pain and weakness.

No no _NO NO NO-_  

It was Cam, he was absolutely certain of it and so was his soulmate marking as it flared up with it’s own new variety of hurt beneath his skin. Gladio hoisted over the side of the wall, falling down into the room below and instantly his heart shattered. 

It was like finding her in that field on the naga hunt all over again. A few short yards away, Cam lay in a crumpled heap, her back to him, motionless, still.

Fear propelled him forward and he scooped her unconscious form up and off the ground, startled by how pale she was, how much blood leaked from the top of her boot…

His vision blurred with tears as he found her face, a fresh wound sliced horizontally across the plane of her forehead, mirroring the very same scar across his own. Blood was flowing freely down her temple. She looked oddly peaceful, given the circumstances, but when he felt for her pulse, he came up with nothing.

“Oh fuck, Cam please…” Gladio clutched her to his chest where inside it felt like a wrecking ball was laying waste to his being. Her name fell from his lips over and over, knowing it was too late; the sobs wracked his body as he weeped over the broken form of his soulmate, dying in his arms.

Cam heard his voice, wished so desperately to see his face once more, something to hold onto forevermore as the edges of her vision greyed, but it was something and so it was enough. 

“Cam, I’m so sorry, I’m _so, so sorry…”_

And then all was gone.


	23. Sunrise

Cam’s eyes snapped open all too quickly and a fluorescent light threatened to blind her. She blinked hard, tears forming from the harshness of sudden bright white and exhaled a deep sigh. She meant to lift her head but then _everything was hurting-_

“Ey! Don’t even think about sittin’ up, doll!”

Dino?

Sure enough, Dino was at Cam’s side a moment later, hoisting the adjustable bed up so she could look around. They were in the clinic, and not alone as a handful of other patients rested in the other hospital beds. Something tugged Cam’s attention to her left…

Gladio was laying on his side in the adjacent cot, facing her, sound asleep. His face was littered with small scratches, his right arm in a sling. What the hell…?

“You were out of it for quite a while, sweetums,” Dino mused beside her.

Cam snapped to his attention. “I what?”

“Mild coma, we thinks,” He leaned against the side of her bed, reviewing her chart. “Lost enough blood to make even me woozy. And uhh,” he paused, motioning up to his own forehead, “Hope you don’t mind another one’a those mean lookin’ marks. That thing’s gonna scar for sure.”

Tentatively, Cam raised a jello-like arm to touch her face and winced, the edge of the stitches holding the skin together still fresh. “Great.”

Beside her, Gladio was stirring awake. Dino backed away and grabbed his well-thumbed magazine, ducking out of the infirmary. “I’ll give ya’s some time alone. Dude’s been hogging a free bed for days now…”

Cam watched as her soulmate roused awake, his honeyed-whisky eyes opening and finding hers immediately. He nearly fell out of bed, sending a bedside table tray rolling away and scrambled over to her, being careful not hurt her as he pressed an urgent, desperate kiss to her lips. Cam was overwhelmed but thanked the Six, her hand reaching up to brush a few stray hairs from between their faces. He pulled back and…was crying? “Gladio?” The worry in Cam’s voice was thick. “What’s wrong?”

He wiped a stream of tears from his cheek, exhaling profoundly. “Sorry, I…I thought-we thought, you’d be out of it for a lot longer or even, even worse…” 

“We?” Cam was having trouble making sense of everything; she blamed the morphine. 

“Everyone; Ignis, Prompto, Greyson-”

“Wait!” Sudden realization smacked her, nerves alight and Cam sat up fast, regretting it instantly as she cursed under her breath. “The nest, what-”

Gladio blinked at her and shook his head, his lips pressing into a hard line. “Gone. It took the better half of our forces but it began to shrink over time, the spawn rates slowing down with it, until we were able to destroy what was left of it.” He sat against the side of Cam’s bed, his free hand stroking the back of hers. “Though it put up a hell of a fight, for the better part of a week…”

Cam’s eyes widened. “A week?? I was…I was out that long?”

“Yeah…” Gladio sighed. “You have no idea how hard it was to leave you each time our shift came up. I was afraid each time I saw you would…would be the last…”

“Hey,” Cam muttered sternly. “Stop that, I’m here aren’t I?” she looked around the room, mentally taking count. “Is…everyone okay?”

To her relief, Gladio nodded. “We had a few casualties, but the shifts worked out well, draining as they were.” He leaned back, scratching his beard. “We got our asses handed to us on more than one occasion but hey, you should see the other guy.”

_Other guy…_

“I saw someone, in the nest.” Cam recalled, the haunting memory of it coming back to her. “Did you see him, the man?” 

The confused look he offered in exchange spoke for him though he affirmed it. “No, just you and uhh…Steph…” 

Cam swallowed hard, the sick guilt making her head spin. She was reeling, the onslaught of emotions hard to keep up. “She begged for death, Gladio, said she wanted to die before he…took control again…”

Gladio’s expression faltered and his eyes narrowed. “Wait. What did _he_ look like?” 

“Hmm,” Cam thought on it, though her memory was still clouded. “Dressed like he was from another time, reddish-purple hair…said he was ‘A man of no consequence’…”

His free hand balled into a fist and he mashed his teeth together. “ _No fucking way_ …”

“You know him?” Cam asked though it was evident he was familiar. “How? What did he do? Who is he?”

Sighing, Gladio rolled his good shoulder and looked off into the distance. “Let’s just say if I ever see him again, he won’t be able to walk.”

“That bad?” 

Gladio turned back to face her, his eyes narrowed. “ _That bad._ ”

A feeling of dread pooled in Cam’s gut, mixing with the current cocktail of feelings that made her head swim. “I feel so useless…I was out for, for so long…” She tried to sit up further but a sharp pain in her side forced her to throw in the towel and she slumped back, defeated.

Gladio leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead, just above the thin silvery stitches that held her cut together. “You’re alive. I don’t care about the rest.” 

Cam could feel the absolute devotion radiating from the man before her, warmth and absolute sunlight on her face, the sun on her hip emitting delightful tingles and instinctively, Gladio’s had brushed the spot over her clothes. The last few moments of consciousness before she blacked out in the nest were slowly coming back to her. She could hear his voice, so much pain and misery in his words as he realized he could have lost her, how incredibly mortal she was…

She reached for his hand again, wincing slightly at the ache in her bones.

“Gladio, I-” 

“Marry me.”

Cam’s eyes were saucers. “What the fuck did you just say?”

A hearty chuckle cracked in his throat. “You heard me, woman. If this has shown me anything it’s that life is way too short. We’re fragile.” he traced a hand along her thigh, where beneath a tight wrapping of bandages kept everything together. “I’ve lived too goddamn long-a lifetime without you. Don’t let me live another.”

And then he slid from the bedside and onto his knees, holding her hand in his and bringing it to his mouth. He kissed it and looked up at her through thick, black lashes. “So, what’dya say?”

Trying to hold back tears, Cam shook her head. “You suck at proposals.”

“I know.”

“…Yes.”

Gladio’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “Huh?” 

“I said yes, you dolt,” Cam couldn’t help but smile back at him, feeling groggy under the effects of whatever pain meds they’d put her on. “Though you better be on board cause it may just be the drugs talking.”

Gladio’s gaze was hazy, purposeful as he leaned towards Cam to kiss her with as much passion as he could offer. Her breath came out of her nose in stuttered streams of warm air against his cheeks. When he pulled away, she was blushing.

He never thought he’d love in his lifetime…

She never thought she could love again…

How wrong they were to make that assumption.

Cam’s expression changed suddenly, going slightly mischievous but also dutiful. “One condition, big guy.”

“Anything.”

Cam’s lips cracked into a massive grin. “Anything?”

“Out with it.”

Raising an eyebrow to Gladio, her soulmate, and now her future husband, Cam made her offer.

“I’ll marry you.. _.if you let me train Iris._ ”


	24. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we’ve come full circle! A massive THANK YOU to all my readers and followers who’ve kept with this crazy ride of a story. I love your feedback and comments, I’ve read all of them and live for your reactions. This won’t be the last of ‘Gladicam’ though; I have some fantastic one-shots and drabbles planned, so stay tuned for that.

“What’s the score?”

“Cam: five, Iris: seven.”

Cam scoffed loudly and caught her breath, sheathing her swords behind her back. “Pffft, as if. You wouldn’t have downed that second one so quickly if I hadn’t helped.”

Beside her, Iris stuck her greatsword into the earth to free her hands and adjust her leather gloves. She reached over and impishly flicked Cam’s nose. “Nuh uh, I had it under control. You were trying to mess with my kill count!” 

“Oh, please,” Cam rolled her eyes and chuckled at the younger girl, pulling out her phone to snap the dead beasts but also to check the time. “Say, we got time for another. You up?”

“Are you crazy?!” Iris’s eyes widened as she gaped at her trainer and friend. “You’re getting married tomorrow, not many people who’d rather hunt the night before their big day.”

She had a point there. A good night’s rest was tempting to say the least. Decided, Cam pocketed her phone. “Fine, fine. Let’s head out.”

Six months had passed since Gladio proposed to Cam in the infirmary at Hunter HQ, and the time when they destroyed the first daemon nest. After that other nests began to turn up across Lucis, though varying in size and daemon spawn rate. The first one was the largest on record, having taken the better part of a week to destroy when a handful of seasoned hunters could dismantle a smaller nest in a day.

Hence was the reason for Cam and Gladio to put off the wedding until now. Things were only just starting to quell, the aftermath of the first nest also having drawn excess amounts of daemons to the surrounding area including Lestallum. It kept them busy, kept _everyone_ busy, getting hitched being the last thing on their mind. Add to the mix Cam’s new job and training Iris, and she barely had enough time to herself anymore. Not like she was complaining.

Cam was given the position of gilmaster at Hunter HQ, Steph’s disappearance leaving the position vacant. Gladio and Cam never spoke about her passing, but her phoned ‘mysteriously’ turned up one day and Cam was immediately absolved of any involvement with the armory ransacking, including an official apology provided by the Marshal before he offered her the promotion. It was tedious work for the most part, dotting her i’s and crossing her t’s on a daily basis and ensuring payments for supply runs were both delivered and received.

That left her evenings free for training Iris, who was freshly recruited as an initiate. Gladio gave her her new set of tags with a proud smile on his face, though it took a bit of convincing; the current state of Lucis with the nests popping up meant they needed all the extra force they could offer, and Iris was one of few with the drive to fight back. 

Cam’s little condition to their marriage also gave him a good influential push in the right direction as well. Over time however, he’d caught on to just how quick of a learner she really was, how the fighting gene didn’t skip a generation. The day she graduated from short swords to a custom-albeit smaller than most-great sword, the shield shed a tear-

“Ahem,” Iris piped up from the passenger’s seat, buckling her seatbelt. “You listening?”

“Uhh,” Cam gaped. “Yes.” 

Iris gave her future sister in law a narrow look before blowing a raspberry at her. “You and Gladio are the same person sometimes, I swear.”

“Nah, less abs.”

“Not what I meant!” though the teenager couldn’t resist a giggle. She tossed her great sword in the back cab with little grace, ignoring Cam’s startled glare as it scratched the rear passenger’s side door. Looking for a quick distraction, Iris swayed the discussion to more pertinent events. “So, tomorrow. What’re you gonna wear?”

Cam frowned, looked down at her in-desperate-need-of-replacement leather armor and pants and shrugged. The sound that came from Iris’s mouth in response was a muffled groan and shriek combo package. “You’re kidding me. Cam you’ve got to have something nicer to wear than that.”

She mused over it for a moment, then shook her head. “Like I have time for dress up these days.”

“Well okay, fine.” Iris sighed. “Wish I knew where to find you a dress…”

But then a thought occurred to her, an idea that nearly fleeted from the unsettling prospect before she could consider it. Sighing, Cam turned the key in the ignition. “I know where to find one.”

 

 

After dropping Iris off in the city, Cam steeled herself for the familiar drive to the Duscae countryside. If not for the sickly darkness that continued to saturate the world, perhaps it would have been nostalgic to a certain degree. Instead her gut was churning, uncertain as to what awaited at her destination.

She drove over the crest of the hill she had hundreds of times, but instead of seeing the house that built her, her heart broke at the sight of her family home in rubble and ruins, partially caved-in walls that still held the familiar sky blue clapboard siding intact near the base before bending inwards from the iron giant’s blows. As Cam pulled into the driveway, passing the ripped fencing and disturbed patches of earth, she reconsidered if she was prepared for this both mentally and physically; in hindsight she should have come with a friend to prevent trapping herself in debris, but she was already too in over her head to resurface and try another day. With a deep breath, she put the truck into park and hopped out.

The place wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined; there was ample room to sidestep most of the mess, using the flashlight she’d pulled from the glove compartment to watch her footing over and around any obstacles. The place was obviously looted; the fridge was long since emptied and pantry though buckled inwards was barren of non-perishables, some furniture was gone, and the comfy sneakers Cam hoped were still around were nowhere to be seen.

No matter, she thought, if someone needed it all for the better, then.

She made her way over to the area where their bedroom was, glad to see her wardrobe was laying on it’s side but completely accessible beneath a toppled over support beam. Cam lifted the mess of drywall and made certain to not let anything collapse beneath her, feeling for any sudden shifts in stability, before opening the double doors to let her old clothes spill out. 

It was a disaster of mold, dust and dirt that had made its way in over the months, the fabrics stained and useless. Cam’s heart began to teeter, feeling defeated. It was foolish of her to believe anything could survive the elements and destruction. She sighed, prepared to close the wardrobe but then…

Something bright white and plastic caught Cam’s eye, tucked beneath layers of her destroyed clothing. Careful to not inhale the musty smell, she tossed pile after pile out of the wardrobe until it could be pulled free. 

Cam held her breath as she studied the white garment bag for damages and praised the Six when she found it to be in pristine condition. Being careful to not dirty the item inside, she allowed herself a peek and only that.

It was untouched, the exact same as the day she’d bought it with Nolan’s mother. 

Tears welled in her eyes and she clutched her wedding dress to her chest, silent sobs of appreciation and pure joy caught in her throat.

 

 

The following afternoon wedding preparations were well under way at the Scientia household. A very modest group of guests conglomerated in the living room of the small home, sharing refreshments and chatting about how a wedding was just the thing they needed in these dark days; something to give them pause, to remind them that not all hope is lost.

Cam was upstairs in Raine’s room, having just slipped the dress on and awaited assistance with the back clasp that she couldn’t reach herself. “Feels a bit big,” she suggested, shifting into place and pulling the garment straight and level.

“Hardly,” Raine replied, “I mean, sure there’s some give in the waist but nothing too crazy.” After connecting the last hook and eye closer, she stepped back and looked over the bride to be.

She couldn’t speak, unable to find the words to appropriately describe the beauty before her. Cam gave her an apprehensive look, cocking an eyebrow at her closest friend. “What?”

“You’re…” Raine began, her brown eyes threatening to spill tears at a moment’s notice. Unable to speak, she tugged Cam over to the full length mirror and let her see for herself.

She refused to believe the reflection was her own; Cam was a vision of steel and lace, the blush fabric making her olive skin glow from within. Cut close to her figure before cascading over her hips, airy fabric with a decorative floral lace overlay and cap sleeves tailored to her proportions though the plunging v-neck made her cheeks turn pink. She swallowed hard, trying not to cry and looked back over her shoulder at Raine. “You don’t think it’s too much?”

“Shut the fuck up and hug me, woman!” she pulled Cam into a warm embrace and the gesture was enough for a tear to spill over and into the blue-tinted ends of Raine’s hair. “You’re going to make them walk into walls. Please let Iggy touch the fabric, if you don’t mind,” she added, seating Cam down in front of the modest vanity that looked ancient. “I can’t believe _that_ survived the wreckage.”

Cam was still taken aback at her reflection. “Neither can I…”

Raine brushed out her curls until they loosened into soft waves that waterfalled over Cam’s shoulders, tucking one side behind her ear and pinning it in place with a bobby pin. She didn’t own much for makeup, a scarce unnecessity in the world of ruin, but she darkened Cam’s already thick lash line and tidied up her brows. She held a bottle of foundation, gnawing on her lip. “Do you…want me to cover up the scars?”

“No, that’s okay,” Cam replied quietly with a whisper of a smile. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.” 

 

“I wouldn’t be here today without this fucker!”

Dave slung an arm around Gladio’s shoulders, a feat only possible due to him being seated. He continued his slightly-inebriated praise of the king’s shield. “Him and these fellows, including the Prince of Lucis himself came to my aid when I sprained my ankle. I was a sitting duck, and these fellas saved my neck.” 

The guests consisted of other hunters and some close friends; the Marshal helped Prompto with seating arrangements, Greyson was in the kitchen helping Ignis with appetizers and snacks while keeping everyone’s drink topped off. Iris was buzzing about the group, pitching in a helping hand wherever needed and antsy to welcome Cam into her tiny family.

Gladio tugged at the white dress shirt buttoned up to his neck, the full charcoal suit he wore a wedding gift from the best man and officiant, Ignis. He kept it a secret from everyone, intent on surprising the bride to be. Fine dresswear nearly impossible to find nowadays, the hunters in attendance donned new uniforms in an attempt to be more formal. Ignis was looking sharp as ever, a suit he’d left at Raine’s place from some time ago making an appearance again, the pewter grey and black dress shirt combination making him look like an editorial model. 

Dave sauntered off in search of something to fill his cup with and Ignis took his place next to Gladio on the sofa. “Nervous?”

Gladio scoffed dryly, unbuttoning the top three buttons of his dress shirt as it was making him uncomfortable. What Ignis doesn’t know won’t hurt him, he mused. “A bit, yeah. Think I gotta walk it off, go splash my face with cold water or something.”

“Please keep the jacket dry,” Ignis requested, the hint of worry in his tone making Gladio roll his eyes as he rose and headed towards the stairs. He jotted a mental note though, as he had to admit; he pulled the suit off surprisingly well, even having been a touch too small for his liking. He took slow steps up the stairs, smoothing his hair back, hoping his facial hair looked alright… 

Gladio heard Raine and Cam’s idle chatter on the second floor and couldn’t help but notice the bedroom door was open a few inches. Though the age-old saying that it was bad luck in seeing the bride before she walked down the aisle resounded through his head, he couldn’t resist. He had to sneak a peek…

And he fell for her all over again. 

Cam was seated in front of the vanity, a vision of tenacious elegance as Raine made some last minute touchups to her hair, though Gladio thought her to be already perfect. His soulmate marking hummed delightfully, tingling warmth that spread throughout his entire body, and he was reminded just how incredibly lucky he was.

How irrevocably in love he was. 

Cam’s head turned a fraction and she caught his gaze in the mirror’s reflection. Her eyes lit up and a gentle, charming smile slowly spread across her lips. They shared a silent moment, Cam’s eyes flicking up and down in her reflection at the sight of Gladio dressed so handsomely. It took everything in her power to keep seated, to not spin around and jump into his arms…

Raine noticed Cam’s attention was elsewhere and before she could look where she was looking Gladio walked passed the room and out of sight. What’s up?” she asked, peeking out the gap in the door. 

“Oh, uhh,” Cam stuttered, cheeks flaring. “Just thinking is all.”

“Need a minute?” Raine was smoothing her floral dress in place, blue-tipped locks in her hand. “I’m going to get Iggy’s help with my braid. Ceremony starts in ten.”

She gave her a nod and Raine left the room. 

Cam stood, nervous as the gravity of today finally settled on her shoulders. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Already her palms were clammy and she grabbed fistfuls of the chiffon and tulle of her straight skirt, her thumbs rubbing the lace floral details as she finally opened her eyes.

Gladio was standing feet away from her near the door, having slipped in when Raine left. The suit he wore accented his built physique, the partially unbuttoned dress shirt teased her so tastefully. He looked positively smitten, a man with purpose and full heart, his eyes lidded and lips upturned.

They didn’t speak, Gladio not needing an invitation to take the two wide strides forward and wrapped his arms around her, joining them as one and Cam buried her face into his chest. The two of them stood locked in embrace for many moments, neither one willing to part from the other, making up for the lost time before they’d finally met, knowing a lifetime was ahead of them and yet it wouldn’t be enough. They’d gladly face whatever the world had to throw at them together, watch their other half assigned by the Astrals grow and age, learn and live and overcome.

Gladio exhaled and his warm breath washed over Cam’s hair. He spoke, so low she almost didn’t hear him. “I love you.” 

Cam pressed a kiss to the center of his chest. “I love you more.”

 

The ceremony was brief, neither of them desiring to drabble on about the other as both Cam and Gladio were not gifted with enthusiasm to talk for long. Raine and Iris stood proudly at Cam’s side while Prompto and Cor flanked Gladio as groomsmen, Ignis officiating the wedding with perfect prose and poetry. They shared short, meaningful vows that made everyone-even the Marshal himself-tear up. After the rings were exchanged with help from little Lucas as ringbearer, Gladio had all but picked Cam up to give her the most passionate kiss he could muster, eliciting several wolf-whistles from the group of hunters. 

Ignis and Greyson prepared some hors d'oeuvres for the reception and Raine dusted off her grandmother’s piano. Cam and Gladio shared an impromptu first dance as Ignis played a classical ballad, though they mostly just swayed in embrace as neither of them could dance to save their lives. As the party winded down and the bulk of the guests left, the newlyweds decided to get some air and strolled down to the overlook in the parkade. People were gawking at them, a sight for sore eyes as they walked hand in hand, looking like they strolled out of a romance novel, writing their own along the way.

They reached the overlook and Cam leaned on the stone half-wall next to the binoculars and Gladio wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You know,” she began, pressing back into him, “I almost didn’t come to market that day.”

“Oh?” Gladio responded, his fingers stroking the back of her hand. “Why’s that?”

“The forecast was poor. Weather called for rain, and lots of it.” Cam craned her neck back to kiss his cheek. “But then I was greeted to the most amazing sunrise, pinks and purples and yellows…” she trailed off, sighing. “It was a sign. Had to be.” 

Gladio chuckled airily, letting his hand skim around her waist. “You know that night we had to stay at the hotel cause the truck broke down?”

Cam smirked. “Yeah, I remember. What about it?”

“That night…I fell for you.”

Grinning, Cam swivelled in his hold and was prepared for his mouth, melding against his with perfection, every curve in his lips carved from stars just for hers. Certain it was becoming too much for public eye, Gladio hoisted her up and carried Cam bridal style towards the Leville. 

Though Eos was shrouded in darkness, for that fleeting moment they basked in the warmth and glow of pure sunlight.


End file.
